


The Frays Against The Shadowworld (feat. Simon Lewis)

by CardcaptorGhost



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood & Jace Wayland are not Parabatai, Alec Lightwood grew up as Alec Fray, Alec Lightwood loves snacks, Alec grew up with Clary, Bisexual Simon Lewis, Blood and Torture, Clary Fray & Alec Lightwood Friendship, Daylighter Simon Lewis, Daylighter(s), F/M, For Simon, Good Parent Maryse Lightwood, Good Sibling Isabelle Lightwood, High Warlock of Brooklyn Magnus Bane, Kidnapping, M/M, Mundane Alec Lightwood, Mundane Simon Lewis, Musician Alec Lightwood, Musician Simon Lewis, Out of the Closet Alec Lightwood, Protective Alec Lightwood, Protective Magnus Bane, Protective Raphael, Raphael Santiago Has Feelings, Raphael Santiago Speaks Spanish, Simon Lewis & Alec Lightwood Friendship, Supportive Isabelle Lightwood, Vampire Simon Lewis, Warlock Alec Lightwood, Warlock Magnus Bane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:00:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 41,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23445139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CardcaptorGhost/pseuds/CardcaptorGhost
Summary: When Jocelyn agreed to take Alec off Maryse’s hand when she was escaping Valentine she never truly realise the implication of raising two shadowhunter children but with one of them having warlock abilities on top of all that it was a struggle to keep the whole shadowworld a secret from both of them. Alec’s magic was both extraordinary and flipping annoying because she can’t remember how many pieces of furniture she had to replace because of some accidental magical burst when Alec was a toddler and don’t get Jocelyn started on trying to train Alec to control his magic. To this day she was ever so grateful for Dot for being by her side throughout the whole of Alec and Clary’s childhood.AU: Maryse gives Alec to Jocelyn when she escapes Valentine and Alec grows up living an mundane life until Clary's eighteenth birthday when they discover the shadowworld together.
Relationships: Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Simon Lewis/Raphael Santiago
Comments: 180
Kudos: 689
Collections: complete in rilettura





	1. Chapter 1

_Maryse never believed that she would approach Jocelyn for a favour, the two women had never seen eye to eye. Maryse always trying to prove herself as a worthy member of the circle to Valentine that Jocelyn had once accused her of trying to destroy her and Valentine’s marriage with was a ridiculous accusation because Maryse was more than happy with her husband Robert who was also an integrate and important member of the circle. Maryse had sworn to never approach Jocelyn for anything yet here she was standing outside Jocelyn’s bedroom listening to the frantic steps coming from inside. Maryse raised her hand to knock only hesitating for a brief second before bringing her hand down in one hard knock. The shuffling stopped then a loud bang and a dragging noise came from inside the room._

_“One moment” Jocelyn said the small sound of panic laced her voice as she slowly approached the bedroom door, taking one deep breath Jocelyn flung the door open. Maryse gave Jocelyn a weak smile and return Jocelyn glared at her._

_“What you want Maryse?” Jocelyn said her voice filled with irritation and anger, the last thing she needed was to be interrupted just before her big escape. She had to get away from Valentine before he caused the uprising._

_“Listen Jocelyn I know we’ve never seen eye to eye but please put that aside for just one moment. I need to ask a favour between mothers, not circle members just mothers. I’m sure you are aware of the experiments Valentine was undertaking whilst circle members were pregnant, and you likely heard all those children died however one didn’t. And I’ve been trying my hardest to keep him away from Valentine since he was born, Alexander is my heart and soul and I cannot risk Valentine finding out what he can do. I cannot risk the Clave finding out what he can do as well. From the sounds of it you’re planning to leave and I wish I was brave enough like you to leave as well so here I am asking you for one favour please take Alexander with you and I will do my very best of keeping Valentine away from you whilst you are settling into wherever you’re going. But please I’m begging you take my boy with you and keep him safe for me” Maryse begged, tears streamed down her face as she begged her only hope of protecting her baby boy from Valentine and from the Clave._

_“Maryse I’m… I’m sorry I had no idea Valentine had been experimenting on you. I plan to leave tonight meet me at the edge of the grounds where I have a warlock waiting to portal me to my new location bring Alexander I promise Maryse I will take care of your son. But you have to be there at 12 AM precisely or I will have to leave without him” Jocelyn said her heart went out for Maryse it really did. Having to raise a child who has half angelic blood and half demon blood without anyone finding out must have been hard._

_“I will be there I promise and thank you; you truly don’t understand what this means to me” Maryse said a small smile appeared on her face as she dabbed the tears from her eyes and walked away._

* * *

When Jocelyn agreed to take Alec off Maryse’s hand when she was escaping Valentine she never truly realise the implication of raising two shadowhunter children but with one of them having warlock abilities on top of all that it was a struggle to keep the whole shadowworld a secret from both of them. Alec’s magic was both extraordinary and flipping annoying because she can’t remember how many pieces of furniture she had to replace because of some accidental magical burst when Alec was a toddler and don’t get Jocelyn started on trying to train Alec to control his magic. To this day she was ever so grateful for Dot for being by her side throughout the whole of Alec and Clary’s childhood. 

“Alec why you practising? Does the band have a gig on for tonight?” Jocelyn asked her adoptive son who was currently strumming some strings on his guitar.

“Yeah we have a small gig at Java Jones tonight. Maureen believes it will kickstart our way to stardom that would be if we were able to write more than just the one song we have” Alec replied whilst he gently placed his guitar down the coffee table.

“I thought you had written hundreds of song Alec you always sat with a notebook and pen what is wrong with those that you’ve written?” Jocelyn said as she took a seat next Alec and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“Mom, the problem is with the way the songs feel or whether it sounds right. Hell even half of them haven’t been finished because… I don’t know, it just feels like there’s a block in my mind something preventing me from being truly inspired and creative with these song that maybe writing songs isn’t my forte” Alec confessed for letting out a loud sigh then he added “I can’t complain specially not today it’s Clary’s birthday, so I’m just going to enjoy today and do the gig and spent time with our friends and try again tomorrow”.

“If you sure that if you need me I’m here for you Alec you know that right” Jocelyn said trying to re-assure her son.

“I know mom”.

* * *

Clary pushed open the coffee house door putting on her best sad face in hope that she could fool Simon. She couldn’t believe that they had accepted her into the advance program for some doddles on her sketchpad for the graphic novel she was planning with Simon. Simon was sat at a two-seat table closest to the door. Clary had to stop herself from smiling as Simon fell for it hook, line and sinker as he instantly tried to cheer her up.

“Don’t bother” Clary said putting her congratulations letter down the table which Simon instantly picked up.

“Well played Fray well played” Simon laughed handing the letter back to Clary just as their drinks arrived. The best friends were chatting amongst themselves talking about their plans for tonight when Clary noticed that her biscotti had disappeared and in its place with the very well-drawn version of it in her sketchbook.

“So how come Alec isn’t here, I thought he out of all people would want to know whether you got into the program” Simon asked looking around the clary’s older brother who had a habit of turning up out of nowhere.

“I already sent a picture of the letter to him plus I did ask if he wanted to come and meet us here after but he said there was only so much of your face he could handle in such a short time” Clary teased before adding “anyway you know Alec we can’t take anywhere without someone flirting with him usually the baristas. Half the time I swear he’s got a sign around his neck which says, ‘I’m gay please flirt with me, I want to embarrass my sister so bring you’re A game”. 

“That’s older siblings for you but talking about your brother don’t forget we have a gig here later. You are coming right?” Simon said. 

“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it for the world but please tell me you are re-changing the band name I mean I want to brag that my best friend and brother are in a band yet you have such an embarrassing band name I mean how did Alec allow you to choose Champagne Enema” Clary argued, she could still remember the day when Simon came flying into her flat shouting that the band had been renamed to Champagne enema and that they had so many gigs lined up.

“He wasn’t listening to us; he was too busy messing around on his phone, so Maureen and I choose the name without telling him until it was too late. He was not impressed when he finally found out” Simon explained, clary laughed she could imagine the horrified look which would have been on her brothers face.

“Well on the behalf of my brother, I’m ordering you to change it then I can start my bragging. I have rights you know. Anyway, that reminds me. I should probably head home and tell my mum about getting into the advanced program. I’ll see you later” Clary said quickly giving Simon a hug before rushing off back to the flat she shared with Alec and her mother. It was a small apartment which was above an old fortune tellers’ shop which somehow was still in business when Clary swears she hardly saw anyone actually come in her expect for her family or Dot, a family friend and the only employee in the shop. 

“Hey Dot” Clary greeted the employee who was flipping through her tarot cards “what’s the future looking?”. Clary spend a few minutes chatting with Dot about getting accepted into the advanced programme and being gifted a lovely black shirt which Clary decided she definitely wanted to wear out tonight, all she had to think about was what to go with it. Clary bid Dot goodbye and thanked her again for the birthday present before running upstairs to see her Mom and Alec. 

* * *

“You did it! Yay” Her mother Jocelyn said when Clary got into her apartment, she saw Alec sat on the sofa surrounded with different types of snacks – he had a problem. All her life she knew that Alec had these magical powers which allowed him to do pretty much anything, yet he only really used it to either heal himself or Clary whenever they were hurt or summon food from any place in the world.

“I told you not to tell her!” Clary said to Alec who had stuffed his face with a strawberry lace.

“I didn’t. Simon’s twitter told her, if you didn’t want her to find out you should have told Simon not to put anything up Frazzle” Alec retaliated before poking his tongue out at her.

“You follow Simon on twitter” Clary said a little shocked as her mother put down the laundry basket she was carrying and pulled Clary into a hug.

“he only has 92 followers he needs the retweets” Jocelyn said letting go of her daughter and grabbing a box off the table. “Happy Birthday”.

Clary smiled as she took the book off her mother and opened it revealing a thin silver tube with a crystal tip covered with symbols, the same symbols that Clary had started drawing. Clary took it out of the box, she was surprised it wasn’t as heavy as it looked meaning it couldn’t have been a paperweight.

“It’s called a stele. It’s very ancient. I want you to have it. It’s a family heirloom” Jocelyn explained when she saw Clary’s confused expression.

“We Frays have heirlooms” Clary said a little shocked, she had grown up without any contact to any relatives. It was just her mom, Alec and herself with the occasional visits from Luke – an old friend of her mothers and the only person who might know something about her mother’s past not that Luke would tell her, he was secretive of his own.

“I don’t know whether I should feel offended is it because I’m adopted that I will never inherit an heirloom, I’m hurt Mom” Alec teased and Jocelyn rolled her eyes at his cheeky side, sometimes she couldn’t believe that this was Maryse and Robert Lightwood’s son. It made her sometimes wonder what he would have been like if he had stayed with his biological family, he would probably more uptight and would have definitely still be closeted.

“Thank you I love it and I need to get changed for the gig, Simon and Maureen are taking me out after to celebrate my birthday after the gig, so I need to get changed. Alec can you help me?” Clary asked her brother who froze with a hand hovering above his mouth holding some sort of snacks, seriously he had an strange obsession.

“I’m gay, not your fashion slave” Alec retaliated but regardless followed his sister to her bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We apologise how terrible this chapter has turned out but we hope you enjoy it.

Alec watched as Clary and Simon disappeared into the crowd with Maureen, he felt slightly abandoned considering clubs weren’t really his scene. He slowly made his way over to the bar and ordered himself a cocktail, the loud music and flashing lights were giving him a headache. Alec wasn’t sure how long he had just been standing there before someone approached him.

“Well hello handsome, I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. What’s your name?” the attractive man, he was Asian, and his face was covered in some light make-up which suited him and wore some fancy looking suit – it was probably designer. There was something about him which seemed familiar to Alec, he gave the man a quick scan with his eyes before briefly allowing his magic to brush against the man. Alec felt a spark as his magic seemed to brush against the man’s own. He was like Alec.

“Alec you?”.

“Magnus. I’m guessing Alec is short for Alexander?”.

“Yeah”.

“I have you say I know every warlock in New York and yet I have never met you which is quite tragic. I’m guessing you are quite young”.

“Warlock? What are you talking about?” Alec asked confused, the man took a step closer to Alec before bring up his hand and a blue glow appeared.

“I can feel your magic, you are a warlock just like me. So, how do you not know about this” Magnus said looking confused, he felt Alexander brush his magic with his own which means that he at least knows how to use it.

“I have no idea what you are talking about. My mom always said that what I have is unique…” Alec tried to explain himself, but he became distracted when he saw Clary rush past him in tears “I’m so sorry I have to go; something is wrong with my sister”.

“No problem. Here have my number, call me we can talk about this” Magnus said giving Alec a piece of paper with a number on it.

“Sure” Alec replied before chasing after Clary, he had to push multiple people out of his way as he struggled to get to the door. Why was it that everyone seemed to be against you when you are trying to leave somewhere quickly, he could feel Magnus’ eyes still watching him and he wasn’t sure whether he should be enthralled or uncomfortable.

* * *

“Clary what’s wrong?” Alec shouted as he chased his sister down the street. Tears were streaming down her face.

“We have to go home. We have too Alec” Clary said she was in a state of panicking. Alec wrapped his arm around his sister trying to reassure her and to calm her down before he called on his magic once more, usually he was against using magic to make his life any easier. Something that his mom had drilled into his head at a young age, that his magic was special and unique but that didn’t mean he should use it for everything. It became something to use in emergencies, but he wasn’t sure whether Clary would be able to walk all the way home, so this classed as an emergency. Alec created a portal and guided his sister through. Unknown to them two yellow cat eyes watched from the alleyway.

Clary and Alec threw the fortune teller shop door wide open and headed straight towards the door leading up to the apartment, there was no sign of Dot which was strange considering the shop door was still open. If Dot was still here she should have still been down here minding the shop.

“Mom, it think I might have killed someone” Clary blurted out the second she saw her mother.

“What the hell Clary? Why didn’t you tell me that?” Alec said looking at his sister with a shocked expression on his face.

“Clary explain everything” Jocelyn demanded.

“There was this strange man with tattoos, and he attacked this woman, but she turned into this horrible monster then I picked this thing up and a blade come out of it and then this man ran up to me and he burst into pieces. I think I killed him Mom” Clary explained tears started falling down her cheeks, Alec pulled his hoodie sleeve down and wiped the tears away before he started rubbing his sister’s back in a soothing motion.

“What did these tattoos look like?” Jocelyn asked calmly as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the stele like the one she gave Clary earlier “did they look like this”. Jocelyn ran the stele over her arm which revealed a rune.

“What the hell Mom?” Alec gasped; Clary looked equally as shocked.

“Listen, I’ve been fearing having this conversation with either of you, but I got a very bad man angry when I took something from him. He has come for me now. You both must get out of here; find Luke he will explain everything. Alec now I know I have stressed how important it is to keep you magic a secret but now it is more important than ever. You will be in danger if anyone found out what you can do” Jocelyn said her voice was filled with fear which made everything which had just happened a little too real for Alec and Clary.

“More dangerous then advance mathematics” Alec tried to joke to break the already tense situation.

“Yes hunny, Dot I need you to open it. Alec, Clary find Luke he will protect you. Remember I love you” before either Clary or Alec could ask their mother what was happening Dot appeared at her side and opened a portal like the ones which she had secretly been teaching Alec to open. Then they were gone.

* * *

“Ow” Alec groaned as his back hit against the hard wall of the police station. Clary collapsed beside her before bring her arm up to the back of her head and gave it a little rub. Alec jumped to his feet then reached out to help his sister to her feet.

“Alec, Clary what are you doing here so late” Captain Vargas said as she approached the siblings.

“Luke promised to give us a lift home” Alec quickly lied which Clary was grateful for, he had always been good at getting them out of situations.

“He is currently in an interview at the moment” Captain Vargas told them.

“We will wait in the Canteen” Alec replied giving his best smile to the captain. 

“Is something wrong?” She asked as she took a step towards them.

“Nope everything is fine, it’s just been a long day” Alec said trying to reassure the woman the last thing they needed was draw any attention from the Captain until they know what was happening. Everything seemed to be happening all at once and Alec really wasn’t sure which way was up at the moment. 

“Okay if you are sure” Vargas said before pushing her bag back up her arm and bidding the sibling’s goodnight.

* * *

“Finding you had been easier then expected once we found Jocelyn, the circle is looking for her daughter so you might as well as tell us Lucian where is the mortal cup, give it to us and you can have them both” the woman said. Luke was sat at his desk looking at his interviewees a man and a woman who were covered in similar marking as his mother with a circle mark which looked like it was burned into their necks Alec noted as he and Clary peered over the wall to look at Luke.

“Do you really think I want them; I’ve only been staying around to get the cup for my people. So, when I find it I’m going to keep it” Luke said standing up and guided his guests to the exit. Alec grabbed his sister’s and pulled her towards the exit, he couldn’t believe that Luke had been lying to them for all this time.

“We have to go home Alec, Mom needs us” Clary said.

“We can’t Clary didn’t you hear Mom she said it’s dangerous we can’t go back. We should go to Simon’s instead. He would look after us until we figure out what is happening?” Alec said, if they got to Simon’s they would be safe for now then they could figure out what they needed to do next.

“What no we can’t abandon her now!” Clary screeched looking at her brother in horror, she couldn’t believe he would abandon their mother in a time like this, she could be hurt for all they knew and needed their help.

“Clary I don’t want to sound bad, but I seem to have a track reputation of parents leaving me” Alec snapped why couldn’t Clary just listen to him, it was obviously not safe for them to head back to the apartment. They had to find somewhere safe.

“No, you go to Simon’s I’m going home” Clary shouted pushing Alec away from her causing his phone to fall out his pocket and smash against the path before darting off. Alec cursed under his breath grabbing his phone which he suspected will be dead and running after his sister, but his delayed start meant he had completely lost her and just as he suspected his phone was dead not even his magic could fix that. Alec reluctantly took the sim card out and threw the phone in the trash.

“My Alexander don’t you look a mess” a familiar voice said – it was Magnus.

“Magnus have you seen my sister, she ran this why, but I’ve lost her” Alec said his eyes still scanned his surrounding looking for his red-haired sister.

“I’m sorry Alexander I have not. I sensed some distressed magic in the area and came to investigate. Would you care to explain what has happened? You are quite pale” Magnus said stepping closer to the other warlock.

“My mothers been lying to me and I think she’s been kidnapped” Alec said frantically.

“May I ask what’s her name, your mother?” Magnus asked. 

“Adoptive mother actually and Jocelyn, Jocelyn Fray why? Do you know her Magnus?” Alec asked his voice filled will hope.

“I think you should come with me Alexander, there is something I need to show you” Magnus replied cryptically as he opened a portal beside him and walked through. Alec stared, silently debating before following. The portal closed as a long black car pulled up to the curb.


	3. Chapter 3

Clary wasn’t sure which way was up anymore. She had returned home to find her mother missing, Dot but not Dot was there and then she was attacked by a demon whatever that was. She had woken up three days later in this strange building with a girl watching over her – Isabelle her name was and that Jace had brought her here after she had passed out from the Ravener demon’s venom. Simon had located her by tracking her phone to the abandoned church, a member of the circle who had taken her mother had followed Simon there and Jace had killed him.

“You are bringing another Mundie into the institute Jace, mom and dad are going to flip when they get back from Idris” Isabelle had said when the three came back into the institute. It wasn’t until they were safe that Clary realised that Alec wasn’t with Simon.

“Simon where is Alec? I thought he would have come with you. Is he still annoyed with me for leaving him behind?” Clary bombarded Simon with these questions, she was worried that her brother was still angry with her after all these days. She hadn’t meant to snap at him, she knew that Alec only meant well and want to keep her safe.

“What do you mean? Clary I thought Alec was with you” Simon said confused, he had tried tracking Alec’s phone as well as Clary’s, but it only gave him the last location his phone was turned on. He assumed that Alec’s phone must have died, and he was with Clary.

“What? What do you mean? Alec said he was going to yours” Clary said looking at Simon.

“Clary he never came to mine. I thought he was with you; his phone is turned off. I’ve tried ringing but it’s just going to voicemail” Simon answered before reaching into his pocket and tried ringing his bandmate again but just like the other times it went straight to voicemail. “Voicemail again”.

“Who’s Alec?” Isabelle asked.

“My brother, well adoptive brother. My mum took him in when he was just one whilst she was pregnant with me” Clary answered but shared a look with Simon which said ‘don’t tell them about Alec’s magic’, Clary might have been grateful of these people’s for saving her life but that didn’t mean she trusted them enough to tell them that. She clearly remembered her mother’s voice when she pleaded that Alec keep his magic a secret and unless Alec tells them himself it was exactly what she was going to do.

“He must be out there somewhere Clary, maybe he went back to your apartment to collect some of your things. He could be waiting at mine right now” Simon said trying to reassure his best friend. He knew that he was lying, his mother or sister would have called him if Alec had suddenly turned up especially after they had to listen to him panicking about Clary not answering her phone.

“But what if the circle has him, they came after me so they might have him?” Clary said worried, her brother has suddenly disappeared it filled her stomach with dread and a wave of nauseous hit her when she thought that maybe Alec got taken because she had ran off without him maybe if she had stayed and they had gone to Simon’s like Alec had suggested then he would be here with her now.

“Clary, we will find your brother as well. I promise” Jace said trying to reassure the new shadowhunter.

* * *

“Hope you slept well” Alec heard Magnus say. Alec had woken up earlier before Magnus, usually when Alec woke up early he would soundproof his room and play his guitar until it was a reasonable time to go down to have breakfast. Alec didn’t have his guitar with him, and he wasn’t brave enough to portal back home to grab it. He was worried about what state he would find his childhood home so instead he had come out to the balcony for some fresh air.

“Yes, I did, thank you again for letting me stay here” Alec replied turning to face Magnus who was still wearing his silk pyjama’s bottoms. He was completely shirtless. Alec tried not to stare.

“No worries Alexander. I couldn’t let a fellow warlock just wander the streets homeless”.

“You said that yesterday, when we met at the club. That I was a warlock what does that mean?” Alec asked, it has been something on his mind. His whole world had changed when his mother had revealed that tattoo on her arm before pushing them both into a portal to the police station. Being called a warlock just added to the list of things he didn’t understand. 

“You really don’t know. Tell me Alexander what have you heard about the shadowworld… I’m going to take that blank look on your face as you don’t know anything. Ok, I will tell you everything just wait until I finish before asking any questions” Magnus said before he started telling Alec the history of the shadowhunters and downworlders.


	4. Chapter 4

“How can we find him? We have no idea where Valentine might be?” Clary asked Jace, they were on there way to the city of bones to see the Silent Brothers whoever they were. Jace had told her that it might be the only way to regain her lost memories and to find the mortal cup which was her last hope of getting both her mother and brother back from Valentine. Simon was driving his van and Clary wasn’t sure whether the horrible feeling in her stomach was to do with the fact her mother and Alec had been kidnapped or that Alec’s guitar was still in the van from their last gig. Clary couldn’t believe that her life had changed so much in the last few days all she wanted was to wake up from this nightmare and go back to normality with her attending art school and her brother being this special person with powers not a downworlder.

“If Valentine has your brother then he will probably have him with your mother which means if we get the mortal cup he might be prepared to trade both Alec and Jocelyn for it” Jace explained looking over at the young shadowhunter, he pitied her. She had been a shadowhunter for less then a few days and she had already had her world ripped away from her, her brother and mother were taken by history dangerous and rogue’s shadowhunter. He remembered what it felt to watch his father die so he could sympathise with how she might be feeling with losing two relatives.

“Then we have to get back my memories Alec is in danger and so is my mum” Clary said. From the quick overview Hodge was able to give her on who Valentine was and what Jace and Izzy were able to explain about the shadowworld Alec showed signs of being a Warlock and if Valentine does have her brother he is in more danger then her mother. She had to get him back

“Why do you say that? Is there something about Alec we don’t know about?” Jace asked curiously, Clary seemed more worried about her brother then her mother, normally or what Jace thought would be normal would be Clary should be worried about both of them equally. Maybe it was different for mundanes.

“No… it’s just… I’m sorry, I hate the idea that my brother might be hurt because of our mother’s actions. I hate this van so much. It reminds me so much of Alec. This is his guitar; he wasn’t able to get it back from the van the day I saw you. This was Alec’s livelihood. Maybe it was a bad idea coming in this van” Clary said carefully picking up Alec’s guitar from its case and brushed her fingertips lightly across the strings, she never had any musical talent for instruments. When she was younger she had tried to learn every instrument that Alec was, but he just had this natural talent to learn how to play all and any instruments he lay his fingers on. Clary had hoped she would have the same musical talent, Simon and Alec had always talked about forming a band when they were older and Clary had been so set in being a part of it however, no matter how hard she practiced she could never play the instruments the same as Alec or Simon so instead of wasting her mother’s money for music lessons Clary settled on being Alec and Simon’s number one fan.

“Tell me about him, your brother. What is he like?” Jace said trying to distract Clary.

“Alec is amazing, he’s caring and always looking out for me. He didn’t care if we were in separate grades he would always come and sit with us. He’s talented in so many different areas not just music, he great at cooking, music, videos games. He has this obsession over snacks, it was ridiculous no matter where or how he could sneak food into anywhere. When we were little Mom encouraged us to take up a sport, I chose dance whilst he chose archery and when we went to pick him the instructor said that Alec was a natural. He was amazing, he was more then a brother he was my best friend”.

“Hey” Simon shouted from the front of the van quickly shooting a look over his shoulder before turning back to face the road.

“You are still my best friend Simon” Clary said a smile on her face as she put the guitar back into the case.

“Jace, we’re here” Izzy said as they pulled up underneath an abandoned bridge.

“The entrance to the city of bones is under an abandoned bridge, I would have thought it would have been in a graveyard” Clary said as she climbed out of the van and looked around her surroundings. Her heart was hammering in her chest. This was it, the place where she was going to get her memories back. 

* * *

Alec’s head hurt. He had returned to his bedroom after Magnus had finished his explanation. To well think everything over, he had been with Magnus for a little over three days now and he knew at some point soon he would have to find Clary, she would probably be worried about his whereabouts and considering his phone was dead. There was no way to get in contact with her. Its just… Alec had never felt so safe anywhere else then he did here, Magnus felt like home and Alec didn’t want to leave.

“Alexander can I come it” Magnus voice drifted through the door.

“Sure, it’s your room. I didn’t think you needed permission” Alec said as Magnus opened the door and stepped inside. He took a seat beside Alec on the bed.

“I suppose so however, it is polite to knock. Alexander, may I ask you something? You don’t have to answer if you don’t feel comfortable” Magnus said there had been something on his mind ever since he met the young warlock and discovered how little he knew about the shadowworld.

“Sure, what is it?” Alec said looking at Magnus.

“If you knew you had magic then how come you never realised that there could be others like you? I can’t feel like anyone has messed with your mind like I was paid to do with Clary” Magnus asked. Alec didn’t say anything for a moment, he was trying to figure out how he could explain it.

“My mom told Clary and I when we were young that my magic was caused because I was born with an extra chromosome kind of like Down’s Syndrome. She always told me that it was a rare condition and I had to keep it a secret to protect myself, she always told me that the reason the Salem witch trials happened was because of someone like me who revealed what they could do and people were scared so they started hunting down anyone who they thought was a witch. When I met Dot, she explained it in the same way, so I never really doubted until I met you. I never thought my mother would lie to me, but I guess know I know why. She was in an odd way trying to protect Clary and I. I just don’t know whether Clary will accept that. She hates being lied to but, she’s our mother and she was trying to look after us, I’d just never expect how much of a lie we really were living” Alec explained.

“Don’t believe that you are a fool for believing Jocelyn, what she said would make sense for someone who doesn’t have any connection to the shadowworld. What she told you could be believable, I’m sure she only had your best interests at heart” Magnus said, he had never heard anyone throughout his long life explaining away magic as a medical condition, he never believe it could be plausible but Jocelyn Fray seemed to overstep that. She was a strong-willed and stubborn woman whenever Magnus dealt with her. 

“Magnus… I need to find Clary. I abandoned her, for all she knows I’ve been kidnapped. I have to find her” Alec said, he had put it off so he could learn about the shadowworld and who he was but now he had that information he had to focus on finding his sister and then together they could go after their mother.

“Alexander I will help you find your sister; you have my word on that, but you cannot suddenly go after her it is too dangerous especially with Valentine hunting down warlocks. He won’t care if your mother is Jocelyn he will come for you. I need to keep you safe. No don’t give me that look Alexander, the last thing your mother or even Clary will want is for you to get kidnapped and tortured by Valentine. He is a man who goes to great lengths to get what he wants”. 

“Please Magnus… I don’t think I can do this without you” Alec whispered.

“I promise Alexander I will help you but now, you need to start learning more about your magic and what we warlocks can do. This book has information about different spells and potions. You need to learn everything to protect yourself Alexander” Magnus said passing Alec an old book. The pages were crinkled as he slowly flicked through it. On each page was a different spell or potion.

“I let you have a chance to look through the book. If you have any questions, you know where to find me” Magnus said standing up and walked towards the bedroom door.

“Thank you”.

“You’re welcome Alexander”.

* * *

Clary wasn’t sure who she was angry with more, Isabelle for letting her best friend get taken by vampires or herself for trusting Isabelle enough to look after Simon. And now for both of those mistakes Simon had been kidnapped by vampires. Freaking vampires. These weren’t the romantic types from twilight they were real blooding sucking vampires who wanted the mortal cup of all things.

“We have to get Simon back; I can’t let another person I care about get kidnapped because of me. I have to get him back” Clary said mostly to herself, she needed a pep talk and if the shadowhunters weren’t going to do it then she would to it herself.

“Clary we will. That was Camille’s outfit right. So, they are locals based out at the hotel Dumort. I’m guessing that’s where they are taken your mundane” Jace said. It was the first piece of hope Clary let herself feel ever since this nightmare began. She was getting Simon back then she would find Alec and her mother, no matter the consequences. However, she couldn’t shake the feeling she had heard of the hotel Dumort before.


	5. Chapter 5

Simon was safe, they were able to rescue him unharmed from the vampire’s lair which was the best news Clary could ever have hoped for. Her life had gone downhill so fast that she had no idea what she could do to stop it from descending further down the abyss. She was pulled out of her thoughts by a knock at the door.

“Hey sorry did I wake you up?” Simon said as he entered Clary’s room and sat down beside her on her bed.

“Simon shouldn’t you be in the infirmary with what happened to you today. I could never forgive myself for you getting hurt, for anyone getting hurt on my behalf. I have you back I need to get Alec and my mother back as well, but I have no clue where to start. I keep having this dream where I’m with my mother and there is not sign of Alec, but we are with this other guy called Magnus and his hands start to glow and he reaches into my head and pulls out my brain” Clary said.

“Magnus Bane by any chance… when I was with the vampires and accidentally let slip about your memory loss and this one vampire accused Magnus Bane for taking them. Could it be him” Simon said. After being rescued from the Hotel Dumort Simon had time to think about what he wanted in life and one was to finally be truthful with Clary and Alec on something which happened in their past something which Jocelyn, Alec and Clary’s mother had made them forget.

“Simon you’re a genius, you’ve given me my first solid lead. I have to tell Jace” Clary said jumped up from her bed and darting out her bedroom. Simon just sat there a sighed, how to make a guy feel appreciated. He reluctantly stood up and followed his best friend, he wasn’t sure why, but he had a feeling he should go with Clary to meet this Magnus bloke. Something Raphael had said whilst he was at the hotel. It was something about Alec. Dammit if only he could remember.

* * *

“Magnus I have to disagree; you should not see these shadowhunters. With Valentine back he will come for you if you leave. We need you here to protect us. This necklace cannot be that important to risk your life” Elias the horned warlock demanded as he chased after the high warlock of Brooklyn.

“So talkative Elias. I will meet with Clary Fairchild and the Wayland boy and whilst I’m gone I expect every warlock to maintain the protective wards. I might be prepared to fight Valentine however my guests are not” Magnus ordered. Alec head snapped up at the mention of his sister’s name, he had been talking with a young warlock child Zoey about magic when he overheard Magnus and Elias’ conversation. He quickly excused himself from Zoey, his heart was pounding in his chest. Was his sister alright, why did she request to meet Magnus.

“Hold on a second – Clary, my sister Clary. You’re going to meet with her, and you didn’t tell me. I have to come with you” Alec said walking over to the older warlocks, he felt a little hurt that Magnus hadn’t told him that he had received a message from his sister, the same sister they had been searching for.

“Elias will you excuse us” Magnus said gently grabbing Alec’s arm and pulling him into Magnus’ bedroom and closing the door behind them. “Alexander the only reason I didn’t tell you about my message from Clary was because I knew you would want to come along and it’s not safe. I need to keep you safe from Valentine, I have too and if anything happened to you if I let you come with me then I would never forgive myself. I will talk with Clary and try and convince her to come back her so she will be safe and reunited with you, but I just need you to stay here. I can’t lose you Alexander, I can’t”.

“Fine but you have to come back to me” Alec murmured quietly that he wasn’t sure whether Magnus could hear him.

“I will always come back to you Alexander, after all look what I have waiting for me” Magnus replied cupping Alec’s face with his hands and pressed a light kiss to Alec’s lips. Alec felt his cheeks heat up as Magnus took a step back from Alec and dropping his hands from his face.

“I’ll better head off; I wouldn’t want to be late. I’ll be back as soon as possible” Magnus said as he used his magic to open a portal leading to the club he would be meeting Clary Fairchild and Jace Wayland, he blew Alec a kiss before stepping through the portal.

* * *

Alec hated waiting. He might have the patience of a saint Clary’s words not his, he just couldn’t stand sitting around waiting for Magnus to get back from his meeting with Clary and this Wayland boy. He was happy that his sister was safe, he just didn’t like waiting around for Magnus to come back hopefully with Clary in tow. Alec was lost in thought when he felt it. Some kind of twinge with the magical wards, someone had entered. Someone that didn’t have magic. Alec knew Magnus’ magic; he had spent the last three days surrounded with it and something was defiantly wrong with them – it felt like… like they were down another warlock had removed the protective wards.

“Everyone get into that room and lock the door. Something is wrong” Alec shouted to the other warlocks, Alec had magically summoned his bow and arrow to him which Magnus had given him when he discovered Alec liked archery as a gift and pulled an arrow from the quiver and attached it to the bow string. He heard the other warlocks hurry into the other room and the door locking once everyone was in.

Alec fired his bow when the first unfamiliar man with a seraph blade and a circle rune on the base of his neck entered the room. It was the circle; they had found them. Alec drew another arrow when another circle member appeared and fired. 


	6. Chapter 6

Clary wasn’t sure what she expected when she met Magnus Bane. An all-powerful warlock yes but a make-up loving and flamboyant man not so much. She half expected that he would be attached to the magic lamp which she had to rub and get granted three wishes like the Genie from Aladdin, when she was younger she would always tease her brother that it was how he was going to end up once he learnt everything about his magic.

“Magnus Bane, so you are the one who stole my memories” She said when they approached the warlock, she didn’t have time to waste. She had to get her memories back and get her brother and mother back from Valentine.

“Only at your mother’s request, I warned her of the risk when she came to me. Now show me the jewellery shadowhunter” Magnus replied looking over at Jace who pulled the necklace from his jacket pocket and showed Magnus. Magnus hand shot out trying to grab the necklace from blonde haired boy, Jace quickly pulled his hand out of reach.

“First give Clary back her memories. Then you can have the necklace” Jace said, this reminded Magnus of every reason he hated shadowhunters.

“I have to confirm its authenticity. I’m not going to help you if the necklace is a fake” Magnus said. Jace swore under his breath before dropping the necklace into Magnus’ awaiting hand. Magnus turned the necklace over revealing AMOR engraved into the back. “Amor verus numquam mortiur ‘True Love cannot die’ Oh, how I’ve missed this jewel”.

“Now, it’s your turn to pay up” Clary demanded but in returned she received a sheepish look from Magnus which made her blood boil.

“I wish I could retrieve your memories, but I no long have them” Magnus confessed before adding “I fed them to a memory demon for safekeeping to protect Clary and the Cup. If Valentine ever captured me, he could torture Clary’s memories out of me. Now Clary Fairchild I will offer you this come with me and my lair can offer you protection no Shadowhunter ever could”.

“No, I’m not going anywhere with you” Clary said taking a step back, she couldn’t give up the search for her mother. She couldn’t abandon her brother.

“Don’t be a fool. Your mother would want you to live and so would your brother” Magnus said as he created a portal leading to his lair. To Alexander.

“My brother?” Clary said confusion laced her voice, she had that dream over and over again and she never saw Alec, she had assumed that Alec had never met Magnus because of being a warlock. Her mother probably wanted to keep Alec as far away from other Warlocks and the shadowworld as possible.

“Yes, Alexander is…” Magnus started before being interrupted by a woman shouting to look out. Isabelle came charging over whip in hand followed by Simon who had protested that he had to come along with them to keep Clary safe. A man holding a seraph blade charged at Isabelle who threw her whip at the circle member leg and pulled him to the floor before he could recover Izzy grabbed the seraph blade the circle member had dropped and plunged it through his chest.

“Valentine has found us; I warned your mother this might happen” Magnus said before disappearing through the portal. Clary didn’t hesitate as she ran after Magnus disappearing through the portal before it closed followed by Jace, Simon and Izzy.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the wait. I've been really busy with my assignments and other stories but now I will try and update this story more regularly

The first thing Magnus saw when he exited the portal was the trail of dead circle member bodies which instantly alarmed him. His wards were down, someone had leaked the location of his lair, and Magnus could pretty much guess who – Elias. It probably wasn’t willingly, and the horned warlock was probably dead but still, Magnus felt slight anger that Elias had risked the lives of other warlocks, risked the life of Alexander. Magnus’ heart froze, he was scared to walk into his own flat just in case he would come across the dead body of his precious Alexander or to discover the circle members had kidnapped him. A body was flung towards them and Magnus batted it away with his magic. Magnus spied a circle rune and an arrow sticking out the circle member’s chest which filled Magnus with hope.

“Alexander” Magnus shouted running down the corridor leading to his apartment not really bothered whether the shadowhunters and mundane were following. His heart was in his throat, as he silently begged to any gods, he might have believed in that Alexander would be fine. Magnus ran through his apartment door which had been left wide open and there he stood; arrow drawn surrounded by dead bodies – his Alexander.

“Magnus”.

“Oh, thank god you’re alright” Magnus said engulfing the other warlock in a hug which Alec happily returned.

“What happened? Where are the other warlocks?” Magnus said reluctantly pulling away and looked at the bodies, they all belonged to circle members not one was a warlock’s body. Alec smiled before using his magic to open the door leading to Magnus’ bedroom – inside the room was filled to the brim with warlocks.

“I felt the wards go down, so I made all the warlocks hide themselves in your room to keep them safe. I then fought anyone who entered the apartment and hoped that you would realise what was happening and come back” Alec explained.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t come back sooner” Magnus said guiltily, he shouldn’t have left in the first place. This necklace wasn’t more important than Alexander or the other warlock’s lives.

“Don’t blame yourself, you wouldn’t have known this was going to happen. I don’t blame you, so please Mags, don’t blame yourself” Alec said instantly recognising what was going through Magnus’ mind. Magnus looked like he was going to say something but was interrupted by a familiar female voice.

“Alec” Clary said shocked as she watched her brother pull fully away from Magnus and turn to look over at her.

“Clary” Alec said and before she knew it, Alec was hugging her.

“You’re fine. I thought Valentine had you as well as mum” Clary said tears falling down her cheeks and she tightened her grip on her brother.

“No, not long after you stormed off Magnus found me and took me in. I’m so glad you are alright. I was so worried something bad might have happened to you but my phone broke so I couldn’t call you” Alec replied. He couldn’t believe it; his little sister was here.

“Hey, don’t forget about me” Simon whined before the siblings pulled him into their hug.

“I’m glad to see you too Simon” Alec said.

“I’m glad you’re okay, dude” Simon answered.

“What no introductions” an unfamiliar male voice said as the friends pulled away. Alec looked over at the blonde-haired boy who was covered in runes just like the black-haired girl beside him.

“Sorry, this is my brother Alec Fray” Clary said.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Isabelle Lightwood and this is my adoptive brother Jace Wayland. We’ve been looking after Clary whilst she was unconscious. I now understand why Clary was so worried about Valentine getting hold of you. You’re a warlock” Izzy introduced herself holding her hand out for Alec to shake, he looked at it briefly wondering whether it would be contagious but nevertheless shook it.

“I hate to break up this cute sibling reunion, but we came here for a reason” the blonde git-Jace, Alec internally corrected said.

“Hold on the lair location is compromised we need to move. I’m going to send the warlocks to a separate location” Magnus spoke up before using his magic to move the apartment. Alec watched as the bodies of the circle members along with the warlock’s disappeared.

* * *

“Right, so, how do we summon the memory demon?” Clary asked as much as she would love to just sit down and talk to her brother and tell him everything that has happened these last couple of days - she needed her memories back, if she found out where the mortal cup and then got their mother back they would have all the time in the world to discuss what they had been through. She was just so glad to have her brother back.

“Are you certain? Summoning such a powerful demon could be lethal” Magnus responded he refused to summon such a powerful demon without the young Shadowhunter not being fully aware of the consequences and dangers which came from it.

“I’ll do anything to save our mother. Where is the demon?” Clary said sharing a look with Alec who nodded.

“Come with me” Magnus said motioning for Clary to follow, Clary stood still for a moment. This was about saving their mother so shouldn’t Alec be involved as well. Alec smiled and nudged her to follow, whispering ‘I’ll be fine’ underneath his breath but loud enough for Clary to hear. Clary returned Alec’s smile before walking after Magnus into a separate empty room.

“If a person wants their memories returned, they must draw the pentagram to summon the demon” Magnus said opening the scroll which contained the drawing of the pentagram. Clary took it off Magnus, it was beautiful in a strange way. The pattern was so intricate that Clary was sort of excited to attempt her own version of this.

“I got this” Clary said, though she wasn’t sure whether she was trying to reassure Magnus or herself at this point. She had only been in the shadowworld for a couple of days and her life had changed so much that at this point summoning a demon seemed second nature to her already whether that was good or bad Clary had yet to find out.

“Shadowhunter… prepare Clary as best you can” Magnus said indicating for Jace to enter the room as he left. Magnus went straight over to Alec who was stood out on the balcony looking down at the city.

“I assumed that you wouldn’t have left your sister’s side ever since you were reunited so how come you’re out here” Magnus asked putting a reassuring arm on Alec’s. Alec gave Magnus a small smile.

“We’ve both changed so much in the last couple of days. I’m more warlock then I’ve ever been, and Clary has accepted her life as a Shadowhunter. I don’t care for this world’s customs, I won’t be pulled away from my sister because of our different blood, however, I don’t want to feel like I’m intruding on her life. I don’t know. Growing up we’ve always been close and now, I feel like we’re further apart than ever and I don’t know what to do to change that. Do I tell her or leave her to make her own decision on what our sibling relationship is going to be like” Alec confessed, he was over the moon to see his sister again and it felt like his sister was happy to see him but would that last after all, the friendship that she has stuck up with the two shadowhunters seemed strong and he was worried that maybe, it was stronger than the relationship between them.

“Alexander, I don’t think you need to worry. When I met Miss Fray at the club, she seemed like she was in a hurry and when I happen to mention you, it was like that was the only thing she cared about. I highly doubt that Clary will ever choose the shadowhunters over you. You’re her brother and nothing will change that” Magnus responded wrapping his arms around Alec and pulled him into a hug. Alec clung to Magnus’ body; his head buried in Magnus’ neck. His scent was calming, and Alec knew that Magnus was right.

* * *

“Jocelyn was right, your artistry is beyond compare” Magnus compliment Clary when his eyes laid sight on Clary’s beautifully drawn pentagram.

“I don’t know about that” Clary replied as she stood up.

“Oh, the only other person I’ve known who could draw that well was Michelangelo, who was excellent in bed, I might add” Magnus teased, he looked over at Alec who smiled, shook his head slightly and roll his eyes all at once.

“Yeah, you would say that. I guess that comes from having low expectations” Alec teased right back and Clary nearly took a double take at the relationship which seemed to have formed between her brother and Magnus. She hadn’t noticed it earlier, more caught up in the fact that her brother was fine, and he wasn’t in the clutches of Valentine. But there was something there… some chemistry that Alec never had with any of his previous boyfriends.

“What are you trying to insinuate Alexander?” Magnus gasped in horror clutching his chest. Alec rolled his eyes once more at how dramatic Magnus could be.

“Oh, I don’t know maybe…” Alec started but Clary interrupted.

“Wait did you just call him Alexander. He hates being called that” Clary stated, Alec blushed. ‘Oh my’ Clary thought, her brother was in deep, but before either Magnus or Alec could respond.

“Can we get back to the matter at hand” Jace rudely interrupted, Clary blushed muttering an apology.

“Okay. We’re ready. Everyone takes your rightful place on the pentagram” Magnus said moving to the first free star point available and Alec took his place beside Magnus. Clary, on the other hand, looked a little lost but Jace moved her to a free spot before taking his own.

“Thanks”.

“We must initiate a bond. Once this bond is sealed, it cannot be broken until the demon retreats. No matter what happens, we must not let go of each other’s hand” Magnus said reaching out for Alec’s hand, Alec briefly looked at it before taking it with his own. Magnus entangled their fingers together and Clary smiled, whoever this Magnus Bane really was, he did genuinely care for her brother. She was so distracted that he didn’t realise Alec had reached out for her hand until it was directly in front of her face. Clary blushed from embarrassment before taking it, then she took hold of Jace’s, Jace took Izzy and then Izzy took Magnus.

“I will lead the ceremony, and you all must do exactly as I say. The demon’s name is Valak. And at some point, he will ask for payment in exchange for Clary’s memories” Magnus informed them before he started chanting in a language which Clary didn’t recognise. The wind started howling as the demon appeared in the circle. Clary was once again lost to her thoughts until Magnus informed them that the demon wanted payment. This whole process just seemed so surreal, yet it was, everything which had happened to Clary these past couple days – it was all real.

“What does it want?” Alec asked looking over at Magnus.

“We must each relinquish a beloved memory of a family member we love the most” Magnus responded. A memory of Alec is taken from Clary, a memory of Clary is taken from Alec. A picture of Izzy appeared from Jace, and finally, a young little boy perhaps a younger brother from Izzy. What happened next was almost a blur, Clary wasn’t sure who broke the bond, but the demon was free and both Alec and Magnus were using their magic trying to contain it.

“We cannot contain the demon much longer” Magnus stated and suddenly Jace was in the grasp of the demon with Izzy struggling to pull him away. Clary instantly took out her seraph blade, she had to save Jace.

“Clary, if you kill the demon, your memories will be lost forever” Magnus told her, and Clary froze for a second before making her mind up. She would find another way to get the mortal cup and her mother back from Valentine and with that, she killed the demon. Alec stumbled and nearly fell to the floor if Magnus hadn’t caught him. Jace, on the other hand, collapsed face first on the ground and didn’t move.

“Jace… Oh, my God. Jace” Clary said dropping down beside him before looking up at Magnus “Is he gonna be all right?”.

“I don’t know. Does he normally just lay like that without moving” Magnus answered before turning his attention to the young warlock in his arms.

“I feel dizzy” Alec muttered laying his head on Magnus’ shoulder trying to block the sight of the spinning room from his vision.

“You just over-exerted your magic; however, I doubt I would have been able to hold the demon for as long as I did without your help so thank you. Although, you need some rest” Magnus responded before scooping Alec up in his arms and carried Alec out of the room.

Although he was initially embarrassed that the warlock was able to carry him with little to no problem. Alec couldn’t help but smile and at that moment he knew he was going to be alright, with Magnus and Clary by his side everything would be fine.

“What happened? I heard a lot of screaming” Simon asked, and Alec’s eyes widened. He had forgotten Simon was here.


	8. Chapter 8

After the memory demon incident Alec and Clary had nearly been inseparable, Alec had partly moved into the institute in the day, however, went back to Magnus’ at night. He had been receiving some odd looks from the other shadowhunters obviously uncomfortable with the constant presence of a warlock however, no matter how much they stared they never said anything or at least to Alec’s face. Alec was currently sat in the ops centre with Clary, Jace and Izzy trying to work out how they could find the Mortal Cup without Clary’s memories.

“Just a thought” Alec spoke up before stuffing his face with a crisp then continued “could mom have shown us where she hid the mortal cup without us realising, I mean from what I found out from Magnus he had discussed and got Mom’s permission to feed Clary’s memories to the memory demon so, she must have known the risk of getting them back and the chance that they could be lost. So, she must have had a plan for it. Maybe, your memories aren’t the key to finding the mortal cup maybe it’s something else that needs unlocking”.

“Yeah but what? Mom wasn’t usually this cryptic. There are thousands of places in the apartment that she could have hidden the mortal cup” Clary replied. Alec shrugged; it had only been an idea. Like Clary, they never expected their mother to hide anything like this from them and Alec just felt stupid, how could he believed his mother when she said that his magic was caused by an extra chromosome. He put his hand into his crisp packet to find it empty, Alec pouted before magicking the rubbish away and summoning some more food, he finished some chocolate this time.

“Do you ever stop eating” Jace complained, he swore in the last few days since he met Alec, the man hadn’t stopped eating and hadn’t gained a pound in weight which was so unfair. If, he ever had anything unhealthy, he had to spend the rest of the day training to burn the calories off.

“Not really” Alec replied.

“Alec is obsessed with snacks. Trust me, we’ve tried for years to break it and if we haven’t succeed then you don’t have a cat in hell chance to stop him. He always used his magic to summon snacks no matter where he was” Clary laughed, she was never annoyed with her brother snacking habit, it’s what made Alec well Alec. Izzy however, frowned.

“What I’m confused with, is how you never thought that there might be more people like Alec? I mean you grew up with him being able to do magic how did you never think ‘oh there might be others’” Izzy asked. Alec and Clary look at each other before Clary replied.

“Well Mom told us that Alec had a rare condition where he had an extra chromosome which caused his magic. I guess because we were young and believed that our mother would never lie to us that what she said was the truth”.

“Okay… but how did she explain your warlock mark?” Izzy asked. Alec frowned his warlock what?

“What? What the hell is a warlock mark?” Clary asked equally confused. Jace and Izzy looked at each other, how the hell did Alec not know he was born with some sort of animal feature after all they’re not something you could easily play off as a birthmark or minor deformity.

“All warlock have one. It’s an animal feature, so they might have horns on their head or scales” Jace explained which only made Alec and Clary’s frown deepened. Alec didn’t remember seeing any type of animal mark on his body, and he hadn’t been called out on having some strange mark during gym at school when they had to change in the locker room.

“I don’t have a warlock mark or not that I’ve or others have seen” Alec said.

“Oh… can you perform warlock glamour” Izzy asked. Alec shook his head. He had read about it in one of the books in Magnus’ loft however, he hadn’t tried it himself.

“Maybe Dot kept your mark glamoured?” Clary suggested but Jace shook his head.

“If that was true then the glamour would have warn off by now, we would see his mark. There something else, maybe something your mom did to keep his mark hidden” Jace explained but before either Clary or Alec could reply the doors to the institute were thrown open and in walked a tall woman with long black hair which was pulled back in tight ponytail and piercing brown eyes.

“Maryse” Jace said as the woman walked over to them and pulled Jace into a hug. “We weren’t expecting you back from Idris so soon, where’s Max?”.

“Robert is picking him up from the Mumbai institute. And you must always be prepared for the unexpected Jace, I thought I taught you better than that. Isabelle still dressed to impress I see” Maryse said. Clary and Alec shared a look, they could tell whoever this woman was she was important, and it was probably best not to get on the wrong side of her.

“Mum welcome back” Izzy said sheepishly, it was obvious that Izzy didn’t get along with Maryse that well. Izzy turned to them “Mum this is Clary and Alec Fray”.

Alec gulped when he felt Maryse’s eyes move from Izzy to him and his sister. Alec couldn’t shake the feeling that Maryse looked familiar to him, but he wasn’t sure why, maybe he saw her talking to his mother. Then he suddenly had brief flashes of seeing a younger version of this woman with a younger version of his mother. Maybe, Jocelyn and Maryse knew each other and that’s why Alec recognises her. Maryse eyes widen slightly when she saw Alec.

“Jocelyn Fairchild children?” Maryse said even though it sounded more like a question then a statement. Alec and Clary nodded.

“Alec Fray come with me. Miss Fairchild stay with Isabelle and Jace” Maryse ordered, and even thought Clary looked like she wanted to argue. Alec put a reassuring hand on his sister’s shoulder and whispered underneath his breath but loud enough for Clary to here “don’t worry, I’ll be fine”. After all he had dealt with homophobia all his life so, warlockphobia couldn’t be any different. With that Alec gave Clary a quick side hug and followed after Maryse Lightwood.


	9. Chapter 9

To say it was awkward would be an understatement as Maryse and Alec just looked at each other waiting for the other to speak up and potentially start the conversation. Maryse had opened her mouth many times but seemed to decide against what she was going to say, and Alec just sat there, he wasn’t sure why Maryse wanted to talk to him and not his sister since Clary was a shadowhunter and Alec was only a warlock.

“How have you been?” Maryse said finally deciding on what she was planning to start with. Alec blinked; he hadn’t been expecting that – from what he had heard about shadowhunters they weren’t welcoming of warlocks or any downworlder.

“Um… fine I guess” Alec replied, not really sure on what he was meant to say. Maryse’s eyes widened from realisation before saying.

“You have no idea who I am do you? Did Jocelyn never mention me?” Maryse asked feeling a little hurt that her own son didn’t recognise her after all these years, yes, Maryse kept away to keep Alec out of the eyes of the Clave and she had hoped that one day she could finally see her baby again. She just never expected that Jocelyn wouldn’t tell Alec about her.

“I’m sorry should she? My mom kept the whole shadowworld a secret from Clary and I” Alec responded, nearly missing when Maryse flinched when he said Jocelyn was his mother.

“Oh, I never expected Jocelyn to keep part of you heritage a secret when I asked her to take you with her, I wanted her to protect you not deceive you” Maryse said shocked, she couldn’t believe that Jocelyn kept him away from the shadowworld, how the hell did he learn to use and control his magic and learn to glamour his warlock mark without being exposed to the shadowworld to learn these things.

“What do you mean you asked my mother to take me with her” Alec asked, this was all so confusing. Who was this woman.

“Alec, I’m your biological mother” Maryse confessed. Alec didn’t want to believe it, how can this shadowhunter woman be his mother, his biological mother. Wasn’t he a warlock, he could do magic, he couldn’t have angelic blood, she couldn’t be his real mother.

“What”.

“You were born September 12, 1995 to Robert and me. When you were one and developed your warlock mark I asked Jocelyn to take you in. You’re not just a warlock Alec but a Shadowhunter” Maryse confessed. 

“Shadowhunter? I’m pretty sure I’m a warlock, how can I be a shadowhunter as well” Alec asked, giving Maryse an odd look. Where all shadowhunter cuckoo?

“It was never meant to happen like this. Long ago I made a mistake, I thought I knew it all and that I could change the world for the better, so I joined the circle and I helped plan the uprising. So, when Valentine came to me and said he wanted to better the next generation of circle members through injecting the unborn children. I didn’t hesitate to off my own unborn child believing that if you were stronger then you could do great things. I regret that decision to this day, I do Alec. I asked Jocelyn to take you so that you were safe from the circle and the clave” Maryse explained and Alec felt his heart freeze and he just stared at his mother.

“You did what to me?” Alec’s eyes widened in horror; he couldn’t believe that his own mother allowed Valentine to experiment on her unborn child. He was only they way he was because of an experiment, he wasn’t special at all – he was a freak.

“Alec listen I never expected…” Maryse started but Alec interrupted.

“No, I don’t want to listen to anymore of your shit. You let someone experiment on me knowing full well it could have an effect then when I was born and you realised I was indeed half-warlock you threw me away like I was nothing” Alec shouted before storming out her office, he didn’t want to be surrounded by what could have been his life with his actual family anymore. Alec could hardly hold back any tears as darted past his sister and out the institute doors, he didn’t stop when he heard Clary call his name instead he opened a portal and disappeared through. The only thing which he could think of as he finally allowed himself to cry was.

‘Magnus is going to hate me’.

* * *

Izzy stormed into her mother’s office. Maryse was sat at her desk, her eyes were slightly red (not that Isabelle noticed) as she worked through some paperwork which was slowly piling up, not that she could fully concentrate on it. Her mind was constantly replying the conversation with Alec, she never expected for it to go so horrible wrong yet, she wasn’t surprised that it did after all if she found out unexpectedly that before she was born she had been part of an experiment then she would be upset as well. She could only hope that she could repair their damaged relationship with time.

“What the hell did you say to Alec?” Izzy demanded glaring at her mother, she couldn’t believe that her mother could say something so horrible that she could reduce Alec to near tears. Downworlders are just as important to shadowhunters, Izzy hated how they were always treated.

“The conversation with the warlock does not concern you Isabelle our main priority is finding Valentine and the mortal cup. That’s an order” Maryse snapped, her eyes trained of her work.

“But…” Isabelle started but Maryse interrupted, she didn’t have time to listen to Isabelle complaining.

“No Isabelle, you’ve already made a mess of this institute since I was away with all your unapproved missions so for once you will do what I say. You have your orders now see to it” Maryse snapped, Izzy didn’t saying anything just walked out her office slamming the door behind her. Great it seems that all Maryse could do today was upset her children, shaking her head in an attempt to forget both her conversations with Izzy and Alec she turned back to her paperwork, it would keep her occupied for now.

* * *

Clary pounded on Magnus’ door hoping that the warlock was in. This was the only place Clary could begin to think that Alec would go to when he was upset, they can’t exactly go to their old home with the circle trying to find warlocks or her, hell Clary wasn’t even sure whether Valentine did or didn’t know about Alec or he could be at risk of being taken. She had just got her brother back; she didn’t plan on losing him again.

“Biscuit, can I help you?” Magnus asked when he finally opened the front door.

“Is Alec here?” Clary asked, and she felt her heart drop when she saw the confused look appear on Magnus’ face.

“No, Alexander left to meet you earlier. Why has something happened?” Magnus asked clearly getting worried for Alec’s safety.

“Alec was with us at the institute earlier today and Maryse Lightwood turned up and ordered Alec to come with her about ten minutes later Alec came running out her office close to tears and opened a portal to get away, we have no idea where he is, and we can’t track him. He’s vanished” Clary explained.


	10. Chapter 10

Magnus didn’t waste much time before running out his apartment to join the search for Alec. They had tried ringing him, texting and even both shadowhunter and warlock tracking but nothing was coming up – Alec was purposefully blocking them from finding him. Magnus silently cursed himself that the first thing he taught Alec was how to prevent Valentine from finding him and now he was using it against them. If it wasn’t for the accords Magnus would have stormed into Maryse Lightwood’s office and give her a piece of his mind for dare upsetting his Alexander.

“Any luck?” Clary asked when she and Magnus met up with Izzy and Jace, they had checked everywhere that Clary could think of but there was still no sign of Alec.

“No, we searched all the places you’ve listened that he could be but nothing” Izzy said, she felt bad for Clary. Izzy and Jace had been there when she was worrying and believing that Alec had been kidnapped by Valentine to only discover that he was safe and hidden away with the High Warlock of Brooklyn and now Alec had once again vanished, and no one could find him. Izzy was kind of glad that Max was younger than her and wasn’t at the age to try any stupid that Alec was pulling, she would hate to have a brother like that.

“I’ve tried calling Simon, but he isn’t picking up. He has this club on tonight so, I doubt we’ll get a reply until later and we can’t wait until then. We need to find Alec now” Clary said before checking her phone for the tenth time in the last few minutes just in case Alec had messaged her, he hadn’t.

“We’ve looked in places that Alec would expect us to look, any chance he’s hiding somewhere you’d never expect him to be” Jace suggested.

“Maybe… I dunno – Alec’s never done this before” Clary answered.

“Blondie’s got a point, if Alexander didn’t want us to find him then he would hide somewhere we could expect him to be… I have an idea” Magnus said opening a portal beside him and stepping through before anyone could question him on what he was talking about. Clary looked at Jace and Izzy then sighed.

“Great we’ve lost Magnus now”.

* * *

Simon looked down at his phone wondering whether he should call Clary back but decided against it, she knew he had his ‘club meeting’ tonight so instead he turned his phone off and slipped it into his bag before opening the hotel door and slipped inside. The hallway was deserted but Simon could hear movement upstairs and the sound of his boyfriend’s voice echoed through the empty corridors. Simon jumped from one floor to another, the stairs had long since broken not that they needed them anyway.

“Sorry I’m late, my accounting class overran” Simon apologised as he walked into the common/ games room. His fellow vampires barely paid him any attention as they were focused on playing X-box or pool. The head of the clan Raphael was sat in front of the bar storing the stolen hospital blood and ripped open a blood bag of A-positive and poured it into a glass. Simon gratefully took the glass off his boyfriend and pressed a quick kiss to Raphael’s lips.

“Raph, I’m planning on telling Clary and Alec about being a vampire and a daylighter. They’ve discovered the shadowworld, Alec had found out he’s a warlock and Clary knows she’s a shadowhunter. I can’t keep up the normal mundane act any longer, I think Jace and Isabelle, umm… two shadowhunters might already be suspicious. They’re my best friends, I shouldn’t have to lie to them anymore” Simon said, when Alec disappeared, Simon had been tempted to tell Clary that he was a downworlder and a vampire but refrained himself since he didn’t trust the shadowhunters who Clary was with but now they knew that Alec was safe and he had no reason to hide that part of him any longer.

“If that’s what you want Amor then it’s your choice. You don’t need my permission” Raphael said pulling his boyfriend closer and capturing Simon’s lips with his own. Simon melted into the kiss wrapping his arms around Raphael’s neck. He couldn’t believe how he was able to snag the world’s best boyfriend, Raphael was so understanding, yes he didn’t let most things bother him expect when it came to his boyfriend. Even if Alec or Clary hated him for hiding that he was a vampire he would always have Raphael and the clan to protect him.

* * *

Magnus’ hunch had paid off as he found Alec slumped on a bar stool at Pandemonium surrounded by empty pints drunk off his ass. Magnus remembered when Alec first came to his home and explained his problem, he said that clubs weren’t really something he enjoyed going to. So, if something bad had happened between Alexander and Maryse Lightwood then the first place Magnus would go would be somewhere he could get smashed to forget even meeting the woman.

“Alexander, I’d figured you’d be here” Magnus said looking down at the wasted warlock. Alec barely paid any notice to the older warlock instead he reach over to his refilled drink and tipped it back.

“Alexander, Maryse is something and I know you haven’t really been exposed to downworlder discrimination. Shadowhunters believe they are superior because they have angelic blood, but they are no better than the downworld. I’m sure this was a shock to you, but it will have to be something you’ll get use to now you know that you’re a warlock” Magnus said placing a reassuring hand on Alec’s shoulder which Alec quickly shrugged off and turned around to face Magnus.

“It’s not that. That I’m expecting. It’s something she told me. She told me…” Alec started, his head was hurting, and the room started swaying. A frown appeared on Magnus’ face just before Alec’s eyes closed and he collapsed. Magnus’ arms shot out and he caught the passed out warlock. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya, so I apologise for not updating for the last few months. I've had a lot on and basically long story short I was trying to update eleven plus fics as often as I could and I just burnt myself out. I had to take a break and now I'm feeling much more refreshed. I'm not sure how often I'm going to be updating, I'm hoping at least once a week but I can't make any promises it will probably end up that I'll update when I feel motivated to write. I hope you enjoy this chapter it focuses on Simon becoming a vampire/ daylighter and the next chapter will just back into the plot of the actual story! Please if you would like to comment on what you thought of this chapter, I love hearing you guys thoughts. 
> 
> Anywho, enough of my rambling, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

~Eight Months Prior~

Simon hadn’t known what hit him until it was too late. He had been walking back home after a band rehearsal at Maureen’s (Alec hadn’t been able to attend because it was Luke’s birthday) which had gone very poorly if you asked him, Maureen was hardly concentrating constantly messing up her keys and when Simon had decided the stop practicing since that was obviously going nowhere that night and tried to write a new song which he needed some peace and quiet for but no Maureen kept pestering him, asking him whether he wanted anything and when he said he didn’t she somehow found something else to go on about that… for better words, he kind of stormed out of there barely giving himself chance to grab his things before he was out the front door.

And now, he was walking home in the pouring rain with no van because it broke down earlier in the week and he still hadn’t gotten it back from the garage or had he picked up an umbrella on his way out so; he didn’t see it. The sudden movement behind him, the sound of footsteps drowned out by the pouring rain. Simon didn’t see it reach for him until a firm hand grabbed a hold of his forearm, dragging him backward. One hand grabbed hold of Simon’s hair, yanking his head to the side, and something sharp pierced his neck. He could feel his blood being sucked out of his body.

‘This can’t be happening’ Simon thought as he felt the life slowly drain out of him. His eyes were getting heavy as he slowly lost all strength to keep them open. He couldn’t get away; his attacker was too strong; he would never see Clary smile again or hear Alec playing his guitar. He would never taste his mother’s food or hug his sister. He was going to die out in the cold.

Simon gave in, he had no strength or energy to keep fighting.

‘I’m sorry Clary’ was the last thing Simon thought before he succumbed to the darkness.

* * *

Simon groaned as he opened his eyes and slowly sat up. He didn’t remember getting home last night. He remembered going to Maureen’s then… oh, the attack. He was so sure that he was going to die. Hell, he could feel someone sucking the actual life out of him, but he was alive, he was… in someone else bedroom. What the hell! Had someone found him and brought him to their home. Simon pushed himself off the bed and walked over to the bedroom door. He reached for the handle and twisted it, but the door didn’t swing open – it was locked. Oh no! Had the person who attacked him brought him here, were they planning on using him as some sort of blood bag.

Simon didn’t have the chance to pounder his situation or think of a way he could escape before he heard the sound of the door being unlocked and a black-haired man with piercing brown eyes who was wearing a suit walked in with a bag containing a red liquid, whatever it was it smelt heavenly but Simon couldn’t think about his stomach not when he needed to work out where the hell he was, the man opened his mouth but Simon beat him to it.

“Where am I and what the hell happened to me? Like I was coming back from my band practice, then this thing came at me, if I didn’t know any better than I would’ve said it was a vampire because it looked like a vampire, it had fangs but it’s nowhere near Halloween because it’s Luke’s birthday and his birthday is months after Halloween and who would dress up as a vampire if it wasn’t Halloween but then again had it been comic con then that too wouldn’t have made sense but comic con is still months away so like I said it makes little sense and I’m rambling, I’m sorry but when I get nervous I talk, it’s a defense mechanism, I don’t know why because it annoys people even more. I’m sorry, I’m really am because I can see from the look on your face it’s annoying you too so… stopping in three two one,” Simon rambled.

“As I was going to say…” the man said, glaring at Simon.

“I promise from now on I won’t interrupt you” Simon interrupted then winced at the glare the man shot at him before he dropped the red bag onto the table, grabbed the front of Simon’s shirt and shoved him up against the nearest wall.

“Shut up, you idiota before I rip that tongue of yours out of your mouth,” the man snapped.

“So sorry” Simon whispered before internally slapping himself, he honestly has a death wish. Talking too much was going to kill him one day that was if he even survived past today.

“Listen here, I’ve already got a lot on my plate and dealing with my boss new fledgling is not how I plan to spend my day so, I’m going to say this once and you’re going to accept it” the man spat out. Simon already had a million questions running through his mind but he knew better than to say any of them, he really wanted to live past today and hopefully head home or to Clary’s and tell her and Alec about the craziest day he’s had then they can work on some songs or play some video games and he can forget about everything.

“You compadre are a vampire. Welcome to the night child. Now feed” the man said releasing his hold on Simon, then he grabbed the red bag and shoved it into Simon’s hand.

“I’m a what!”.

* * *

It was an accident; he knew it was, but that wouldn’t stop him from feeling extremely guilty. After begging Raphael for days to let him say at least some form of goodbye to his best friends before being forced to disappear from their lives forever, he couldn’t just up and leave them, Clary and Alec had helped him through some of the toughest times of his life, he owed it to them to let them have some closure but things never went his way.

He messaged Clary earlier that day asking her whether he could pop over around nine to hang out, Clary had replied not long later, that girl was always stuck to her phone whenever she wasn’t drawing, she agreed saying how they would be in all day so he could come earlier if he wanted, and he wanted to but he couldn’t. He didn’t fancy becoming a barbecued vamp. So, instead, he had to make up some believable lie as to why he couldn’t come over during the day and wait around the Hotel Dumort until the sun went down and he got out of there like a bat out of hell.

He was nervous, why wouldn’t he be. He was telling his best friends that he won’t be able to see them again without telling them why he couldn’t see them again. It wasn’t fair, but Raphael had been insistent. No mundane could find out he was a vampire.

Clary opened the door; he had a key to this place, but it felt wrong to use it. He honestly felt like he was intruding, like he didn’t belong here anymore. He was a child of the night, an undead being, and from all the horror movies he had watched vampire and humans shouldn’t mix, it always ended badly, and maybe if he had listened to his own advice he would have avoided this incident.

Clary was injured. He wasn’t sure why, and he hadn’t had the chance to ask because his vampire instincts took over and he went for Clary, his best friend. He, Simon Lewis, attacked his best friend. Raphael was right. He should have never decided to talk to them one last time. He was still a fledgling, learning control, and before leaving the hotel he was so sure he had it, he was so sure that he had his urges under control. Apparently not. Simon didn’t really remember much of what happened, he felt Clary’s blood trickle down his throats and he might have heard Alec shouting at him to stop but he wasn’t sure, the next thing he remembers is being pulled off Clary by Jocelyn, wait when did Jocelyn get here. Alec had his arm wrapped around his sister whilst he tended to her wound.

“Get out” Jocelyn snapped, pulling Simon away from Clary and Alec and towards the front door.

“I’m so sorry Ms Fray, I have no idea what happened to me” Simon lied, he couldn’t tell her that not even a week ago he had been attacked and turned into a vampire, that he had only come here to say goodbye to his closest friends before disappearing from their lives forever.

“Simon, you need to get control of your vampire urges before you come back here. Look, I’ll deal with Alec and Clary, but you need to promise me the next time you see them, you can’t mention this again,” Jocelyn said as she shoved Simon out the front door.

“What are you talking about?” Simon asked, confused. He wouldn’t be seeing his friends again, he couldn’t after what had just happened, how could he show his face after literally feeding off his best friend.

“You’ll understand soon, I’m sorry, Simon. I’m really sorry this has happened to you. Please return to your sire” Jocelyn said, slamming the door in Simon’s face. Simon just stood there. He couldn’t comprehend what had just happened, Jocelyn knew he was a vampire, she knew, but she’s human, she smelt human. Simon had known Jocelyn Fray since he was six years old and met Clary and later Alec for the first time, this was the woman who hated anything supernatural related and whenever Clary and Simon tried to discuss their graphic novel in her presence, Jocelyn would always get this look on her face which if Simon was honest it scared the crap out of him and now he discovered that this woman, this woman who had made it abundantly clear how she detested the supernatural – Jocelyn Fray, knew about the shadowworld. It made no sense, if Jocelyn knew about the shadowworld then why, why she kept it a secret from Clary or Alec. None of this made any sense, what was Jocelyn's ulterior motive, there must be one because no one would be that vocal about their hatred towards something which most of the planet didn’t believe existed. What did Jocelyn know that the rest of the shadowworld didn’t?

A week and one accident later, Simon discovered he was a daylighter and eight months after Valentine kidnapped Jocelyn Fray.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, this chapter isn't a long one but this is setting up for the rest of the story. I promise the next chapter will be much longer!

He was tired of waiting; it was all he seemed to do these days. Wait for his useless circle members to return with news of their failures. They were incompetent. If he hadn’t lost so many pawns during the raid of the warlock’s hide out then he would kill those who kept failing him. How hard was it to search Jocelyn’s apartment and find the Mortal Cup or track down one child, they had spies everywhere, so they should have located her by now? Jocelyn’s daughter should be here. Valentine flicked his eyes over to the unconscious form of Jocelyn, she looked just as beautiful as the day he first met her, how he longed for her during the hardest period of his life, hiding in the dark slowly and carefully rebuilding the circle until they were strong enough to rise out of the shadows.

“Valentine,” Pangborn said portaling into his lab.

“What is it, Pangborn? And it better be good news,” Valentine said, barely sparing a glance at his follower.

“We haven’t found Clarissa Fairchild or the Mortal cup,” Pangborn said, “but we found something else, something we thought you might want to see,”.

Pangborn reached into his suit jacket pocket and pulled out a photograph before handing it over to Valentine. Valentine snatched it off him and looked down at the photo. It contained an obvious warlock creating a portal with Clarissa beside him. If he found this warlock, then he might lead him to Clarissa, or maybe this warlock was the one who conspired with Jocelyn and created the potion which put her to sleep.

“Have you located this warlock?” Valentine said although he suspected he already knew the answer, if Pangborn had found the warlock then he would have brought him with him.

“No, Valentine, look at the picture again, look at the warlock’s eyes. Do you remind you so someone? A former circle member perhaps” Pangborn said, Valentine glared at him but still, he looked back down at the photograph and at the warlock’s eyes, they were hazel not that it was anything special many people had hazel coloured eyes, in fact, they reminded him of… a smirk stretched out of Valentine’s face.

“It looks like Maryse Lightwood kept a few secrets from us. Her child didn’t die, the experiment was a success, Maryse’s child is half-shadowhunter, half-warlock. Bring him to me, with him under my control I can create thousands of new and improved soldiers who could tear Alicante apart,” Valentine couldn’t believe his change of luck, the experiment worked and Maryse Lightwood lied to protect her child, to protect her secret, well it looks like she didn’t try hard enough because he still found out and now he was going to use her precious child against her.

“That’s not all. After receiving this photo, I recognised the boy. It would seem the day Jocelyn ran from the circle, Maryse asked Jocelyn to take her child with her. Jocelyn raised the boy which means if we can find him, he might know where Jocelyn hid the mortal cup,” Pangborn said.

“Well then, get out there and find him” Valentine ordered, Pangborn nodded before portaling away. Valentine ran a hand through Jocelyn’s hair.

“Well Jocelyn, it looks like I won’t need our daughter after all,”. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya again sorry for not updating for a while but I've been on placement for the last three weeks and I've been really tired whenever I get home so I haven't had the chance to sit down and write. So again I'm sorry for how late this chapter is and I hope you enjoy it!

It had been playing on Simon’s mind ever since it passed his year turning anniversary; he had spent the last year as a vampire and as a downworlder hiding his new life from his best friends, well, for now, that was. Clary and Alec were just as involved in the shadowworld as Simon was, with them being a Shadowhunter and a Warlock. This meant that really Simon could tell them about who he really is and for once he mostly wasn’t afraid of telling them, he knew they wouldn’t react badly as Clary had made it abundantly clear to Jace and Issy that she accepted her brother being a warlock and wouldn’t let them being different races come between them no matter how most Shadowhunters seem to despise Downworlders. This led him to stand or rather sit on Raphael’s bed as the vampire prepared to go to sleep that day.

“Raphael…” Simon started before trailing off, he knew he didn’t need permission from Raphael to tell Clary and Alec about being a vampire, after all, they were a part of his world now and they would find out eventually but that doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t discuss it with the leader of his clan before he did anything because this didn’t just affect Simon, it affected the New York clan whether or not they wanted it to, “I’m thinking about telling Alec and Clary that I’m a vampire, I mean they’ve become part of the shadowworld and they’ve been really accepting of each other being a shadowhunter or a warlock so they should understand that I’m a vampire… I mean, these last few months before Miss Fray was kidnapped by that sociopath shadowhunter I hinted vampires are my new favourite supernatural creature so they should accept me, I mean I’m still the Simon they knew just with fangs and a different diet. Everything should be fine, right? I mean, it would be hypocritical if they are accepting of each other and not me right. I’m not overthinking this am I, oh… I’m so overthinking this… what if they hate me, what if they don’t want to be my friend anymore? Like I know I won’t be on my own I have you and the clan but they’re my best friends, we’ve been close since kindergarten and I don’t think I could cope losing the…”.

Raphael cut Simon off by pressing his cold lips against Simon’s before pulling away, leaving Simon both stunned and seemingly breathless even though they didn’t need to breathe.

“Amor, these are your friends if you want them to know about your vampiric status then you can tell them, like you’ve said they are now a part of the shadowworld they will find out one way or another and it will be better coming from you then someone else,” Raphael said to his boyfriend.

“I’m just worried that if they’ll accept the vampire part but not the daylighter” Simon muttered; he couldn’t lie that that hadn’t been playing on his mind as well. If he told Clary and Alec, he’s a vampire then he’s going to have to tell them about being a daylighter too and that by drinking Clary’s blood after losing control she had turned him into one. He didn’t want to lose his friends over something he hadn’t been able to control.

“If they are as accepting as you say they are, then I’m sure they will be fine with you being a daylighter and what happened for you to become one,” Raphael said.

‘And if not then they will have me to deal with’ Raphael thought but didn’t dare say that aloud. He had a reputation to uphold, after all.

“You’re right, I’ll message them right now and get them to meet me at Java Jones,” Simon said mostly to himself as he grabbed his phone from his pocket and shot a text message into their group chat.

* * *

Alec groaned as he opened his eyes, he had no idea where he was, the last thing he really remembered was running out of the Shadowhunter’s institute after having that conversation with his apparent biological mother and portaling to the nearest nightclub he could think of to get well and truly smashed. And now he was paying for that with the world’s worse hangover in the history of hangovers. Alec pushed himself off the bed, noticing he was in his room at Magnus’ place but he didn’t remember getting here, his best bet was that someone found him and brought him back, he could only hope it hadn’t been those shadowhunters because the last thing he needed was to look like a moron in front of his sister… oh. He hadn’t really thought about that, if what Maryse was saying was in fact true that meant that Isabelle was his younger sister. Alec shook his head, which he instantly regretted. He really needed to learn how to magic a hangover away that would save him a lot of pain whenever he was stupid enough to get wasted.

Alec opened the bedroom door and stumbled out into the lounge after grabbing his band hoodie and threw it on. He pondered whether he should check his phone, but he expected that he would have a gazillion missed calls and texts from Clary demanding to know where he disappeared to. Alec shuffled into the kitchen and slumped onto a barstool before pressing his head onto the cool countertop and sighed. He didn’t have the energy to get back up and make himself a cup of tea or even focus on trying to use his magic to magic himself one instead.

“Good Morning,” Magnus said walking out of his bedroom, Alec lifted his head to look at Magnus before putting it back down on the countertop. 

“Morning” Alec groaned rubbing his temple at the pain emanating from them, Magnus seemed to take pity on him as he pressed a finger to Alec’s temple and magicked his hangover away, “thanks”.

“You’re welcome Alexander,” Magnus said snapping his fingers again and two cups of tea appeared in front of them, Alec shot Magnus a grateful smile before grabbing his tea and nearly downed it in one, “Alexander may I ask you something?”.

“Sure,” Alec said trying to ignore the spike of anxiety he felt in his stomach, he knew what Magnus was going to ask but that didn’t mean he was any more prepared for it, he was sure that his brain wouldn’t fully function without another cup of tea and food before he could really answer questions with legitimate answers but from the look of Magnus’ serious expression, Alec didn’t think he could easily get out of it easily by retreating to his room.

“It’s about last night, I found you, you were drunk at Pandemonium and you mentioned that Maryse Lightwood told you something which was the reason behind your intoxicated state. If you don’t mind me asking, but what was it?” Magnus asked. 

Alec froze, he nearly told Magnus about what Maryse had said, the one thing he wasn’t ready to do. Yes, Magnus had the right to know, Alec really liked him and he didn’t want to start a potential long-term relationship off with lies, they might not be dating yet but they still flirted and they weren’t hiding that they were obviously attracted to one another, “Nothing important”.

“I know you’re lying Alexander,” Magnus said before adding, “I won’t push you, if you don’t want to tell me then that’s fine but if you ever want to talk then I’m here, I know that you’ve been through a lot lately with discovering that you’re a warlock and your mother’s kidnapping so if you want to talk then I will always be here for you,”.

It took everything of Alec’s being to stop himself from flinching at the mention of being a warlock because he wasn’t, not really, he was an artificial one at best. Valentine had experimented on him before he was born, he wasn’t truly a warlock, nor was he a shadowhunter; he was an abomination, but how could he even try to explain that to Magnus; he doubted there had even been a shadowhunter/ warlock mix born before. He didn’t know what to do. Clary would always help him whenever he felt lost or trapped, maybe because she is new to all this, she could help him figure out what he should do and help him form what he could say to Magnus. He couldn’t lose Magnus, he couldn’t.

“I can’t… not right now, at least. I need time to properly think and air out my thoughts and feelings. I’m sorry Magnus you’re not the right person for that, I need someone who has known me before the shadowworld. I need… I need Clary” Alec said trying his best to ignore the hurt look which briefly appeared on Magnus’ face, “but once I understand at least a little what’s going on, then I will tell you. It’s just… I can’t right now”.

Magnus nodded, “Well, you know where to find me when you’re ready to talk,”.

Alec didn’t respond instead he returned to his room grabbing his phone from the bedside table ready to send a message to Clary asking her if she could meet him away from the shadowhunters and the madness in their lives had descended into but instead, he found an unread message from Simon in their group chat.

_**My Life Is A Mess but… no Everything is a Mess. I Shall Never Be Redeemed.** _

_**Walking Disaster:** EMERGENCY MEETING! JAVA JONES! 10 AM! NO SHADOWHUNTERS OR HANDSOME WARLOCKS WELCOMED!_

_**I Need Sleep But Art!:** That means neither Alec nor I can come then!_

_**Walking Disaster:** EDIT: NO NEWLY AQUIENTED SHADOWHUNTERS OR HANDSOME WARLOCKS ARE WELCOMED!_

_**Why am I here:** Are you saying I’m not handsome!_

_**Walking Disaster:** ALEXANDER FRAY YOU ARE THE MOST HANDSOMIST WARLOCKS AROUND BUT THIS ISSUE DOESN’T RESOLVE AROUND YOU SOOOOO PLEASE!_

_**Why am I here:** Okay, okay, if you insist Simon, I’ll reluctantly get out of my warm and comfortable bed to meet and listen to your problems_

_**I Need Sleep But Art!:** Sure thing Si_

_**I Need Sleep But Art!:** Also Alec, where did you disappear to last night! Don’t think I forgot about your vanishing act! I want answers!_

_**Why am I here:** Well look at that I need to water my snacks Bye bye Frazzle_

_**I Need Sleep But Art!:** Alec!_

* * *

Alec wouldn’t lie and say he wasn’t nervous about meeting Clary and Simon, yes, if anyone accepted him for the mess he apparently was then it would be his adoptive sister and long term friend Simon (he wasn’t allowed to call Simon his best friend because Clary refused to share Best Friend Status with him) but that didn’t mean he was any less nervous. Simon and Clary were already there, waiting for him at their usual table. It was stupid really; he was the one with the ability to create portals, yet he only used one to portal himself to Manhattan from Brooklyn and walked the rest of the way. Alec needed time to think, to assess his situation, and figure out what the hell he was going to say, Clary had a right to know why he ran out the other day because she is his sister, it didn’t matter if they weren’t biologically related, he grew up with her so if he told anyone it had to be her. And Simon, they had been friends for so long now that it didn’t feel right telling one and not the other, Simon, Clary and Alec were a package deal, you couldn’t have one without the other.

“Alec” Clary smiled, jumping up from her seat and throwing her arms around Alec in a tight hug. Alec smiled, relaxing a little before returning the hug.

“Aw hug time” Simon cheered before he too threw both his arms around Alec and Clary in an awkward three-way hug. Alec pretended to look annoyed, but he wasn’t. Ever since his mother’s kidnapping, they hadn’t really had a moment to themselves to just be their weird trio. Now they were always surrounded by others, and it honestly felt nice to just get away from that all and have a break.

“Okay Si, you called us here. What’s your problem?” Clary asked when they pulled away from one another and sat back down at the table, ignoring the looks they were getting from others.

“Let’s not talk about me first, lets talk about you. What’s it like living with the shadowhunters?” Simon said. Alec and Clary shared a look with each other from the corners of their eyes. Something was definitely wrong; Simon would only distract you from one topic to another when he was truly worried to talk about whatever problem he had.

“Simon, you arranged this meeting. Whatever you need the tell us, you can. We won’t think any differently of you” Alec said, trying to reassure his friend. Whatever Simon wanted to tell them was eating him away, just like Alec’s whole situation was doing the same to him.

Simon sighed as he looked down at the table, his mind racing a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out what he wanted to say, how he was going to say it before he opened his mouth and finally said those three words which frightened him, “I’m a vampire… a daylighter to be more accurate. I have been for a year now”.

“… How?” Clary said, shocked. Her best friend was a vampire, a downworlder. Simon Lewis had been sort of dead for over a year now, and they hadn’t known.

“Walking home from band practice one night, it was the same night my van was being serviced. I don’t really remember what happened, according to Raphael we never do, but the little I remember is someone grabbing me from behind and fangs piercing my neck. The next thing I remember is waking up at the Hotel Dumort and Raphael told me I was a vampire,” Simon explained before stopping momentarily to think about how he was going to tell them the next part, this was the part that scared him the most. What would Clary and Alec think of him when he told them about the attack, about how he became a daylighter? “I became a daylighter about a week later,”.

“Whatever it is, Simon, you can tell us,” Clary said, reaching over the table and taking Simon’s hand in hers, “a vampire or not, you are still Simon Lewis, our best friend. Nothing is going to change that. I’m sorry that we weren’t there for you when you went through all this and I’m glad you had a supportive clan beside you during your transformation, but Simon, we’re never leaving your side again. I may be a shadowhunter, but I love the Downworld. It had two of the most important people to me in it. So, whatever you’re scared of telling us, then you should know that we will always be there for you,”.

“Of course, Simon. We downworlders have to stick together” Alec smiled grabbing Simon’s free hand and squeezed it.

“Raphael and I still don’t know how it happened but one night I came round to see you, to say goodbye and when you opened the door… I honestly thought I had control over my urgers but Clary when you opened the door, I lost control and I drank from you. And for some reason that turned me into a daylighter,” Simon said staring at the table and refusing to meet his friend’s eyes, “I’m so sorry please don’t hate me,”.

Clary and Alec felt their hearts break in two at how vulnerable and scared Simon looked. They both let go of his hands, trying to ignore the flinch which emanated from the young vampire as they stood up and walked around to Simon’s side of the booth and slide in either side of him, wrapping their arms around him in a tight squeeze.

“Don’t you dare blame yourself for that, Simon Lewis,” Alec said.

“You were a recently turned vampire!” Clary added, she refused to let Simon blame himself for something he couldn’t control, it was probably similar to when Alec was little and couldn’t fully control his magic yet, their mother never blamed him for the things he broke because it wasn’t his fault he hadn’t yet learned how he could control it. It wasn’t until Dot came into their lives Alec learned to control his magic before started using it to fix everything in the apartment he had broken, “you can’t blame yourself for not being fully in control of your urges. I don’t blame you. I never will”.

“But I attacked you. I’m a daylighter because I drank your blood,” Simon said, looking at Clary with tearful eyes.

“I don’t care” was all clary said tightening her grip on Simon, “what’s a daylighter, anyway?”.

“It’s a rare kind of vampire capable of walking in the sunlight,” Simon explained.

“Then I’m glad you drank my blood because that meant we could keep you in our lives. Simon, you are our best friend, we couldn’t live our lives without you. You are just as important to us as Alec and I are to each other. You’re practically family at this point, Simon, you really are,” Clary said before adding, “Is it because I’m a shadowhunter you were able to turn into a daylighter?”.

“No, lots of past vampires have fed on shadowhunters and they haven’t turned into a daylighter,” Simon replied, “we have no idea why this has happened. No one knows how a normal vampire can become a daylighter in the first place,”.

“Then let it be a mystery, we still have you at that’s the main thing,” Alec said, “at least you’re a normal downworlder,”.

“Why do you say that, Alec? Is it to do with something that woman said yesterday, you never said why you ran out nearly in tears?” Clary asked, she was worried for her brother, and the text message she received from Magnus yesterday telling her he had found Alec hadn’t calmed her nerves.

“I guess… yesterday I discovered that I’m not a normal warlock but an artificial one,” Alec said.

“An artificial one, what does that mean?” Simon asked. He had never heard of an artificial warlock before.

“Because… I’m originally a shadowhunter” Alec whispered, but it was still loud enough for Clary and Simon to hear.

“What!” they both shouted, drawing more glares to their table from other customers.

“Maryse Lightwood is my mother, according to her… she was a part of the circle and she let Valentine of all people experiment on her whilst she was pregnant with me. It’s why I have my magic because Valentine injected me with demonic blood whilst I was still in the womb. When I was one, she gave me to Mom to ‘protect me’ apparently,’ Alec confessed.

“Oh, Alec!” Clary said, reaching over Simon to grab her brother’s hand, “does Magnus know?”.

“No, I’m scared to tell him, I’m scared that he will hate me if he knows,” Alec said. He always seems to lose people, he can’t risk losing Magnus too. 

“Don’t be silly, Alec, Magnus cares for you. He can’t blame you for being something you never chose to be, and it doesn’t matter if you’re part shadowhunter or part warlock. It only matters who you chose to be. Throughout your life you’ve identified yourself with your magic then who you truly are is a warlock” Clary said, she didn’t identify herself as a shadowhunter yet because she didn’t feel like that is who she is, she’s grown up as a mundane and she’s discovered so much of the shadowworld she doesn’t like, she doesn’t like the treatment of the downworlders at the hands of the shadowhunters not after her brother and best friend are downworlders too. If the shadowhunters ever changed to accept the downworlders, then maybe she can come to accept who she truly is.

“You think,” Alec said frowning. He hadn’t thought of it like that. When Magnus said he was a warlock it had been so easy to bring that title into his identity yet now he knows about the other shadowhunter title, he just couldn’t accept it as easily. He couldn’t imagine growing up surrounded by Shadowhunters, he didn’t want to imagine the person he would be if he didn’t have Clary, Simon, and his mother in his life.

“I know so,” Clary said smiling, “you are a warlock through and through and I know for sure that Magnus won’t care about it. You didn’t have the choice of being experimented on. And I’m certain that if you grew up as a shadowhunter then Magnus would still love you the same,”.

“She’s right Alec,” Simon said, “God look at us. A shadowhunter, a daylighter, and a warlock, we’re a right mess. If my boyfriend were here, he would definitely make fun of us,”.

“Wait, boyfriend!” Clary said her eyes widened, “you never mentioned having a boyfriend,”.

“Simon!” Alec gasped, “how could you keep such important information from us. Forget being a vampire, I don’t care about that! Tell me who this boyfriend is and why haven’t we met and vetted him yet,”.

“You know the bro code, Simon! Any potential partners must be previously vetted by fellow bros to ensure that they are right for that person!” Clary was horrified that Simon would forget their code.

“Because I never expected that you would meet him,” Simon said, “Raphael’s a vampire like me, you remember outside the City of Bones, the male vampire who took me. That’s Raphael, my boyfriend,”.

“Wait, you were kidnapped! When did this happen?” Alec asked.

“When we believed someone had kidnapped you but was actually with Magnus and I wasn’t kidnapped pre-say. Camille, who was the old head of the clan, wanted the mortal cup and believed that Clary has it. She took me as insurance to get it, after all, I was a vampire and part of her clan so technically the vampires never broke the accords. During the time they trapped me with Camille, Raphael and the rest of the clan used that time to rise and well kill her before I was rescued and Raphael took over as the new head of the clan. Then we just played along with the Shadowhunters rescuing me with no casualties,” Simon explained, it had been extremely odd being around Camille whilst he knew well that Lily and Raphael were convincing the other clan members to turn against Camille, he had been stuck there trying to distract her until Raphael arrived to tell her that the Shadowhunters had breached the building and told her she better get out of here whilst the other vampires lay in wait and attacked before Camille even realised what was happening.

“So that’s why the hotel was so easy to break into,” Clary said, she hadn’t really thought much about it believing Isabelle was doing her job at distracting the other vampires but now she thought about it the only vampire she had seen was Raphael and well Simon.

“Yep, we were too busy revolting against Camille that it was easy for you shadowhunters to sneak in and back out unnoticed,” Simon said.

“Anything else happens when I wasn’t with you… you know what I don’t want to know,” Alec said, this was Simon and Clary he was talking to, they probably tried to do countless things which could send Alec into an early grave, “What I want to know is? When can we meet this Raphael person because you may be dating but he still needs to be vetted by us! Bro code and all,”.

“Sure, just to warn you Raphael is quite grumpy around everyone,” Simon smiled, it seems like everything has worked out for the better, “I know a shortcut, it goes through those abandoned warehouses we used to play in as kids,”.

* * *

Simon was the first to go down, one moment he was happily walking and talking, and then the next he had collapsed in a heap on the floor with a small knockout dart sticking out his neck. Panic arose in Alec’s chest as he looked for somewhere, anywhere to hide but he couldn’t find anything, the only place to hide was inside the warehouses but by the time they’ve picked Simon up and started running then someone else could be down. Alec’s eyes widened as Clary collapsed next. Just like Simon, she had a knockout dart in her neck and then…

Alec felt the dart hit him as he lost all function of his arms and legs, and he collapsed face first onto the floor. He tried to fight it, use his magic to throw it off, but he couldn’t. He felt something blocking it like something was locked away inside him. He saw two men approach them with circle runs on their necks, one stepping over Simon as they picked up Clary whilst the other head for him. He felt hands on his chest and legs as someone picked him up before Alec succumbed to the darkness. The last thing he thought about was leaving Magnus waiting in that Brooklyn penthouse for Alec to never return.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry

Clary groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She didn’t recognise where she was or how she got there. One second, she was with Simon and Alec going to meet Simon’s boyfriend, then the next she was waking up here… in some cage surrounded by vials full of strange coloured liquids and syringes; it gave Clary the feeling of a torture chamber from a movie complete with the mold on the wall and burn marks on the floor. Clary pushed herself to her feet and felt her heart stop. Just outside her cage, floating unconscious in the air was her mother.

“Mom” Clary shouted running to the edge of the cage putting her arm through the bar trying to reach for her mother but just coming up short, that’s when she noticed someone was standing to the side of her mother. A tall, bald man with runes on his skin and a red circle rune on his neck. Clary may have never seen a photo of the man before, but just looking at him, she knew. She knew this man was Valentine – her father.

“Hello Clarissa,” Valentine said, “It’s not a name I would have chosen, but then again I didn’t know of your existence until a month ago,”.

“Where am I? What did you do to my mother? And where is Alec? Where’s my brother?” Clary said, she felt her hands and legs shaking from fear of the man in front of her, the man who scared the whole shadowworld into submission but like that was going to stop her from protecting her family from him, this man might be biologically related to her but that didn’t mean he was a father to her. Luke filled that role for years before they discovered the shadowworld.

“Your whereabouts are not your concern,” Valentine said, reaching out to brush a strand of Jocelyn’s hair and tucked it behind her ear, “As for your mother, she arrived like this. She’s currently under the influence of a sleep potion conjured up by a warlock,”.

“And Alec? What have you done to my brother?” Clary said again, narrowing her eyes as she glared at the man in front of her.

“Alexander Lightwood. He’s not your brother Clarissa, he’s a monster. An impure Shadowhunter, a hybrid. A downworlder,” Valentine snapped, “forget about him, Clarissa. You don’t need him; my people will take care of him,”.

“Like hell, Alec is a monster, he is the kindest person I know!” Clary shouted, no one called her brother a monster and got away with it, “Just because he may be a warlock doesn’t mean he’s a monster! If anything, you’re the monster here! You’re the one who wants to kill the downworlders just for being different,”.

“Now, now Clarissa. Let me tell you something: when the Angel Raziel created the first shadowhunter with the mortal cup it was to defeat the demons, however, demons mixed with the mundanes and created the four downworlder species that we know of today. Those abominations didn’t exist, they shouldn’t exist that’s why we as Shadowhunters must destroy all demons, including the downworlders,” Valentine said and Clary scoffed, could he even hear what he was saying, he was acting like a madman.

“Spoiler Alert! So are half the animals on this planet! Different dog species are born from breeding two different types of dogs together, like a Labrador Retriever. Even species of wild animals are hybrids like Liger, Geep, Coywolf, or a Zorse. So, what are you going to do next, kill every animal on earth because they’re impure,” Clary shouted, she didn’t care if the downworlders didn’t exist when the shadowhunters were created what matter now was that they did and they deserved to be respected and not killed because they just happen to have demonic blood in their veins.

“You’re overreacting, Clarissa…” Valentine started, but Clary interrupted.

“Don’t accuse me of overreacting! You took my mother from me, you sent people to attack my friends, you’ve attacked me and now you’ve separated me from my brother,” Clary shouted.

“Clarissa, you’re my daughter, being a part of the circle is in your blood. You don’t fully understand what has happened in our world, you don’t know what the downworlders have done to us,” Valentine said, “join me Clarissa and help me find the mortal cup,”. 

“I will never help you! I don’t care what happened in the past between shadowhunters and downworlders, all I care about is what is happening now! And I will never help you,” Clary said, moving into the middle of the cage and turning her back on Valentine.

“Think about it Clarissa, without the demons and their spawn the world would be a safer place” and with that Valentine walked out of the room leaving Clary alone with only her unconscious mother and her thoughts for company.

* * *

Alec felt what happened before his mind even had the chance to catch up with it. All he could feel was pain, in his arms, in his legs, in every inch of his body. This pulsing electric shock burnt into his skin from everywhere and anywhere, it hurt. It burnt. Alec wanted to bat whoever was hurting him away, but they chained his arms above his head and they chained his legs to the wall behind him. He barely remembered being with Clary and Simon before losing the ability to use his limbs. If these people had taken him, does that mean whoever here has Clary and Simon as well? He kind of remembered people walking towards him with… oh. They had circle runes on their necks, had Clary, Simon, and himself been kidnapped by the circle? If so, where were Simon and Clary? Alec could understand why they might have taken him, or Clary for instance, but why Simon. To the circle, they would assume he was a mundane, hell until they spoke in the café Alec and Clary believed Simon to be a mundane and not a vampire/ daylighter, so in theory, they had no need for a ‘mundane’. Alec could only hope that they left Simon behind and he could find Magnus to help save them. That was if Magnus and Simon could find them.

“It’s a shame he doesn’t have a warlock mark. It would be a nice addition to my collection” an unfamiliar voice said before Alec felt another jolt of electricity surge throughout his body.

“Yeah man, can’t believe Valentine made such an abomination like this,” another voice said, “then again, he’s the child of that Maryse slut so no wonder he’s an abomination, that whole family is a disgrace to shadowhunters and the circle,”.

That confirms it. The circle took him. Valentine had taken him. And whoever these other people were, they knew his biological mother, and because she was no longer with the circle; they were acting and saying demeaning things against her. Alec might not know his biological mother well, and she might have done some horrible things to both downworlders and to Alec himself, but she didn’t deserve to be slagged off by the people who were doing wrong. Alec could only assume that Maryse was trying to redeem herself whilst the men in front of him for some twisted reason were still following the circle and its ideals. They hated downworlders and took marks from warlocks, the features which made them who they were, a mark which Alec apparently didn’t have but that couldn’t be right, Maryse said he developed his warlock mark before leaving with his mom but if that was true then what had happened to it because he was fairly sure he didn’t have some animal feature that Jace and Isabelle explained that all warlocks have.

“They deserve to be wiped from the list of noble shadowhunters families… well everyone except for Isabelle Lightwood maybe, she’s hot. When we take over and destroy the downworlders and the traitor shadowhunters for good, then maybe I can make her my submissive bitch” the first voice said again. Alec clenched his teeth, but other than that he didn’t move. He didn’t care if he hardly knew Isabelle Lightwood, she was still his biological sister and like hell was he going to let anyone from the circle put their grubby hands on her, if only he could use his magic, he could knock these people unconscious, find his sister and Simon and get them the hell out of here. But each time he tried to call on his magic nothing came, he didn’t feel like he had emptied his magic reserves but at the same time, there was nothing there. It was like when he was kidnapped, that there was a block that he couldn’t get past which was holding his magic back. Could the circle be blocking his magic? Did they have that power?

_**10%** _

Alec kept his eyes closed, his jaw tense when he felt another jolt of electricity go through his body. He knew they wanted him to wake up and beg; they wanted him to scream, but he would not give them that satisfaction. Even when all he wants to do was scream and cry, he wouldn’t bow down to these bastards no matter how much pain they put him through. No matter how much they try to torture him.

_**20%** _

“Pangborn, Blackwell leave us. I wanted to take my time with this one” another unfamiliar voice said from what Alec could only assume was in the doorway to wherever he was being kept. Alec might not recognise this voice, but he knew who it belonged to. The power and authority behind it could only mean one thing. The person who had joined them was Valentine.

“Has Miss Fray turned to our side?” the first voice said.

“Not yet, but I think I know what will convince her,” Valentine said walking past them and pulled his seraph blade out. The blade shone white before he pressed it against Alec’s stomach and cut a small yet deep wound. Alec threw his eyes open from the pain and gasped whilst Pangborn and Blackwell grinned before leaving the cell he was in.

“Alexander Lightwood, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” Valentine said cutting another wound on Alec but this time on his chest.

“What have you done to Clary? And Simon” Alec said pushing through the pain he wasn’t letting Valentine receive any satisfaction from his pain.

“My daughter is safe with her mother, not that it concerns you,” Valentine said, making another cut, “… who’s Simon? Oh, that mundane. We didn’t need him, mundanes are useless and would only get in the way,”.

“What do you want with me?” Alec said.

“I want you to tell me where Jocelyn hid the mortal cup? You’re a warlock, she must have trusted you with its location,” Valentine said, and Alec frowned. The mortal cup! Again!

“My mom never told me about the shadowworld, let alone about the mortal cup and even if I did, I would never tell you,” Alec said, he didn’t know where it was no matter how everyone seemed convinced that either Alec or Clary knew where it was, their mother had said nothing about a cup, their mother said nothing about the shadowworld and that Alec was in fact a warlock/ downworlder (kind of) and Clary was a shadowhunter.

“Jocelyn Fairchild is not your mother” Valentine snapped, cutting Alec again.

“I hate to break it to you, but I have adoption papers which say otherwise” Alec smirked through the pain as Valentine pushed his seraph blade into Alec’s chest a small way before pulling it back out. It was obvious that he was trying to miss any vital organs.

“Jocelyn Fairchild will never ever be your mother, you downworlder abomination,” Valentine snapped, slashing at Alec’s legs this time.

Alec laughed, then gritted his teeth through the pain, “Haha, I like that. You’re the one who made me like this, it’s because of you I have these powers. The man who hates the downworlders, that same man created its abomination,”.

Valentine growled, tightening his grasp on the seraph blade, narrowing his eyes. He would make this as painful as possible until this abomination begged for death. He brought the blade down, slashing from the top of Alec’s chest to the bottom.

_**30%** _

Valentine’s frustration grew as he kept slashing and cutting away, Alec wouldn’t scream, he wouldn’t beg. He kept silent, gritting his teeth as he took each cut. He felt the blood trickling down his chest from all the open wounds, but he refused to react. He tried to think of other things to take his mind off what was happening; he thought of childhood memories with his mother, Clary, and Simon. He thought of starting his band and their performances; he thought of Magnus, beautiful and kind Magnus. But no matter how much he tried to distract himself, he couldn’t, he couldn’t distract himself from the cuts and slashes of the blade of his skin or the electricity shooting through his body and into the wounds where Valentine shoved the electrically charged probe. He wanted to scream so badly; it hurt trying to stop himself, and he could feel his self-control slipping. He wouldn’t hold up any longer.

But Valentine didn’t stop. He kept cutting and shocking until his arms became a flurry of movement. Cut, shock, cut, shock, stab, shock, pain, shock, stab, shock, cut. Valentine could see the pain reflected in Alec’s eyes, but he wanted more, he wanted this abomination to cry, to scream, to beg. But no matter how many cuts he brought to Alec’s body, the abomination refused to make a noise, to sudden intake of air, no gasp, no whimper, and no scream. And that pissed him off. He dropped the electrically charged probe onto the floor, raising the seraph blade to Alec’s chest just underneath his lungs, and pushed the blade into Alec’s skin. Alec’s eyes widened, the pain was worse than anything Alec had previously experienced but Valentine didn’t stop there; he left his blade in Alec’s chest, leaning down and picking up the probe from the floor and shoving it in the open wound with his blade. Electricity shot down the blade, burning everything it touched. The pain was worse than anything Alec had experienced before Valentine ripped both the blade and the probe from his body. And Alec couldn’t stop himself. The scream left his mouth before he knew it.

_**40%** _

“I’ve met no one with such a high pain tolerance or resistance, if this another part of your freaky warlock powers?” Valentine said lowering his seraph blade and took a step back, admiring his bloody work on Alec’s chest.

Alec smirked, “It’s not power. It’s the strength of will, you bastard. No matter how much damage you inflict on me, you will never come close to the pain of severe teenage bullying in high school. You forget Valentine that the mundane world is just if not more dangerous than the shadow one. I would love to see what runes can do against a tank or a gun before they blow your head off. Mundanes might not have these magical powers or runes, but we have our own initiative and weapons. You shouldn’t underestimate us,”.

“Then I will just have to keep going until I break that will of yours” Valentine smirked before piercing Alec’s abdomen with his blade once more. And Alec screamed.

_**50%** _

Something was wrong. Alec could feel it deep in his soul. An unknown power was building up and raging war inside his body. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry but this will continue in the next chapter so prepare yourselves.


	15. Chapter 15

Simon could only be now thankful for superhuman speed because had he actually been a mundane, it would have killed him to reach the New York Institute, which was the other side of Manhattan from where they had been attacked. Simon was still slowly processing what had happened. That, someone, had attacked them and taken his best friends, and there was nothing he could do about it. Their attackers had left no clues for him to follow. He could only hope that Jace and Issy knew what to do because Simon knew that tracking them wouldn’t be an option.

Simon threw opened the doors to the institute open and ran inside. He could only hope he could find Jace and Izzy fast. Much to his relief, they were both in the ops part of the institute talking to someone else who Simon couldn’t make out.

“Jace, Izzy… Magnus oh thank god you’re here too” Simon said. He thought about going straight to Magnus’ apartment but decided against considering that perhaps the shadowhunters had better equipment to locate his friends. So, he could only be glad that Magnus was here, so he didn’t have to run all the way to Brooklyn to tell him about Alec’s kidnapping.

“I was strengthening the institute’s wards,” Magnus said, “Is something wrong, Sherman?”.

“It’s Alec and Clary, someone has kidnapped them,” Simon said. Panic appeared on Magnus’ face and in Jace’s eyes.

“Do you know who could have taken them?” Isabelle said both shadowhunters and downworlders alike believed that somehow Clary and Alec could lead them to the Mortal Cup which meant that anyone could have taken them.

“I don’t know they knocked me out first and by the time I came to, Clary and Alec were gone and there wasn’t any trance on who took them,” Simon said.

“It has to be The Circle,” Jace said, “The vampires have already tried to get the Mortal Cup and failed, they wouldn’t try again so soon. This isn’t the werewolves nor Warlocks style, and I doubt they would go after one of their own. Had it been the Seelies we would have found out by word of mouth by now, the only other people after Clary and I suppose Alec would be Valentine. And a downworlder would have taken you to use as leverage over Alec and Clary, however, Valentine doesn’t care for mundanes, which is why he left you,”.

“Yeah… um… about that, I’m not what you think I am,”.

* * *

Something was wrong. Alec could feel it deep in his soul. An unknown power was building up and raging war inside his body. It was getting stronger and stronger, the more it hurt, the strong this power became. Alec could feel it fighting the block inside of him, and it scared him what would happen when it finally won. Would he die? Would he live? Would something entirely else happen?

**_60%_ **

Valentine didn’t let up on his attack, he had heard this monster scream twice before; he wanted more. He wanted it to beg for its life; he wanted it to scream and cry. He wanted it to break, make it loyal to his cause, and then it would force Clarissa to reconsider his offer if she wanted to stay at this monster’s side.

**_70%_ **

Slash, Stab, Zap repeat. Slash, Stab, Zap repeat. It was an endless cycle, yet still, Alec somehow stopped himself from screaming.

**_80%_ **

_“Dot, I know it’s dangerous, but please, it’s the only way to protect Alec. If Valentine or the Clave found out what he is, then they would kill him, they wouldn’t care that he is only three,” Jocelyn said looking down at a three-year-old Alec who was quietly playing with his wooden blocks, “Please seal it away,”._

_“Okay, Jocelyn, but I’m not strong enough to seal away all of it. Only someone like Magnus would be capable of something like that and we both know no matter how much money you offer him, he still won’t do it,” Dot said as she knelt down beside Alec, “This will also seal his warlock mark away,”._

_“Just do it, Dot, for Alec and Clary’s sake,”._

Huh? What was that? What did his mother ask Dot to do? Seal what away?

**_90%_ **

Then the pain halted, Alec forced his eyes open to see Valentine moving away from him. Had he given up? Or was he preparing for something worse?

“Pangborn, Blackwell, take over” Valentine snapped sheathing his seraph blade whilst he chucked the probe onto the table beside him, “I’m going to see whether my daughter has changed her mind”.

The two men from earlier stepped inside the room, both wearing identical grins as they made their way over to Alec whilst Valentine walked out of the room. Alec watched as they both grabbed their own seraph blade and start striking his body in any space Valentine hadn’t already cut, but it didn’t matter anymore. Alec felt the block break and power flooded throughout his body.

_**100%** _

* * *

Tears streamed down Clary’s face, she could hear everything Valentine was doing to her brother, she heard Alec’s painful screams and all Clary wanted to do was escape and make her brother’s pain stop but there was nothing she could do, the only way she could protect her brother would be to work with Valentine. But she couldn’t do that! That would mean willingly helping him to find the mortal cup, and then everything her mother sacrificed would have been for nothing. If Valentine got his hands on the mortal cup, then he could create hundreds of new and loyal shadowhunters and the demons he could control with it. She shouldn’t do that, but her brother, her best friend, was suffering at the hands of Valentine and she couldn’t do anything. Maybe she could figure out a way to go behind his back and save her brother, her mother and keep the mortal cup far away from him.

“STOP IT!” Clary screamed, “YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED! FINE! I’LL HELP YOU JUST PLEASE! PLEASE LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE,”.

Valentine smirked as he walked into the main area of his base where he kept Clarissa and Jocelyn together. He knew his plan would mostly work; Clarissa cared too much about that abomination so if anything convinced Clarissa to help him it would be hurting that monster. And he had been right. It still irritated him that he hadn’t gotten that monster to beg, but once he had his hands on the mortal cup, that creature would be no longer service to require and he could do everything he wanted to it before ending its life.

Valentine opened his mouth to agree to Clarissa’s terms when from deep inside his base there was a loud explosion.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TEN CHAPTERS LEFT BABY! 
> 
> LIKE OH MY! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I'VE NEARLY FINISHED THIS STORY! I'M SO EXCITED TO SHOW YOU HOW THE REST OF THIS STORY WILL PLAY OUT! I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER!!

Clary watched helplessly from her cage as members of the circle dead bodies were thrown about. Whatever was attacking them was extremely powerful, and they stood no chance. As soon as they had drawn their seraph blade, this thing had attacked. Her heart was pounding in her chest, had this been a creature Valentine had made and was now turning against him, just by looking around the room she was being held hostage in there were clear signs that Valentine enjoyed experimenting and she had heard the rumors from the downworlders that Valentine enjoyed experimenting on them before he killed them. If this was the case, then had it attacked her brother. Was this creature so lost in its madness that it couldn’t recognise the difference between Valentine’s supporters and his prisoners? What if this creature had killed her brother, what if it went after her unconscious mother? Could she even try to reason with it? Clary had seen movies where tortured beings gave into the madness and then saw everything in their world as against them.

Another dead circle member’s body slid into the room, barely stopping before it hit her cage. Then another, and then another. Valentine hasn’t moved from the spot he was originally standing in. He didn’t know what was attacking him, he has never seen or felt anything so powerful before. Valentine drew his seraph blade, not that it would help him that much as he saw the number of his dead circle members continue to rise. This creature, it had to be a downworlder. This creature was living proof that downworlders were evil and they shouldn’t exist in this world. Some could kill just by the flick of their wrists whilst others took pleasure in feeding on the mundanes as they slowly drained them dry.

The creature stepped into the room; Its glaring dark orange eyes stared at him like it was looking into his soul, its white angel wings stretched out behind it. Flaring like an angry bird ready to pounce.

“Alec,” Clary said shocked. She had never seen her brother show so much power before. He was practically teeming with it, his dark orange eyes and white wings fluttering behind him. Those must be the warlock marks Isabelle and Jace had been referring to. Why hadn’t she seen them before, they were so obvious? Could their mother have done something to Alec which hid the wings and the eyes from everyone else, including Alec?

“This monster is your brother,” Valentine said. This creature looked nothing like the bastard he and the circle had been torturing. The chest wounds had healed, leaving no traces of what he had been through. The magic pouring out of it was nothing Valentine had ever felt before, even from those who were considered the most powerful warlocks out there. Could this powerful abomination exist because of the result of mixing angelic blood with demonic blood? Had the angel blood somehow amplified his warlock capabilities? If that was true, Valentine couldn’t allow this creature to live any longer. It was a threat to the shadowworld and his plans.

Valentine raised his blade, charging at the creature, but it raised its hand, using its magic to bat Valentine away as if he was a rag doll. His body crashed into a storage shelf containing rows and rows of chemicals Valentine used to experiment on his victims, but Valentine didn’t have the chance to worry about that as he passed out.

The raw power surrounding Alec seemed to subside, but his dark orange eyes stayed as prominent as ever as if they had always been there.

“Clary!” Alec said, moving towards the cage Clary was trapped in and used his magic to open the door, “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”.

Clary didn’t waste a second later as she flew out of the cage and threw her arms around Alec, pulling her brother into a tight hug, “I’m fine. What about you? I heard what Valentine was doing to you”.

“I won’t say I’m fine because I’m not but… wait can you smell smoke,” Alec said stopping halfway through his sentence to look around their surroundings only to see that a small fire had erupted from the smashed chemicals near Valentine’s unconscious body.

“Shit” Clary said as she pulled away from her brother and moved over to their mother, “Do you think we can get her out of here?”.

Alec nodded before using his magic to open a portal whilst Clary reached out to grab her mother’s arm. They both knew how dangerous it was for someone to enter a portal unconscious, so Clary knew that either Alec or herself would have to go through with their mother to ensure that she wouldn’t become stuck in limbo after they only just got her back.

“You go first,” Alec said motioning for his sister to move, Clary nodded as she pulled her mother through the portal whatever was making her float also made it easier to move Jocelyn. So, Clary didn’t struggle to push her mother’s body through the portal with Alec stepping through it not far behind them. They appeared in an abandoned and extremely dusty warehouse. It was the same abandoned warehouse that Simon, Clary, and Alec used to play in during their early teenage years whenever they wanted to escape from the struggle of teenage life and the hell of 7th grade. It also happened to be where the circle had kidnapped them, but Clary refused to think any further into it.

“We have to find out a way to wake our mother up. Should we take her to the institute or Magnus?” Clary asked. She had her back to her brother as she looked over her mother for any injuries. It seems that Valentine had actually looked after their mother, except for the new circle rune on her neck. Clary was so distracted that she didn’t hear her brother fall onto the floor clutching his stomach.

“We’ll be lucky if we get to either place” Alec groaned; the pain was getting worse.

“What do you…” Clary started but trailed off as she turned to look at her brother to find him on the floor, “Alec, what’s wrong is it your injuries?”.

“No,” Alec said shaking his head, “I’ve lost control of my magic. Something’s wrong with me, I’ve never had so much magic at my disposal and my body doesn’t know what to do. Dot’s control techniques aren’t working, and I feel like I’m about to explode”.

“Oh god,” Clary muttered. Alec clenched his teeth as the power inside him kept growing, “I’ll go get help, just hold on Alec. I’ll be back soon”.

Clary darted towards her brother, pressing a kiss to Alec’s forehead before she ran out of the warehouse.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the best chapter I apologise, I really struggled writing this.

Her feet were killing her by the time Clary arrived at the institute. She had been moving non-stop since she left that warehouse over an hour ago and since she had lost both her phone and wallet during the kidnapping, she couldn’t call either Jace or Simon asking whether they would come to pick her up or at least come to where she was. She slammed opened the institute’s door, slamming straight into someone. Her legs felt like jelly as she lost her balance and had the person she ran into not caught her then Clary would have been a floppy mess on the floor.

“Woah, careful,” the person said, and Clary recognised the voice, she looked up to see Jace staring back at her looking just as shocked and confused as Clary felt since well the shadowworld had been revealed and her mother was taken by Valentine, “Clary! But… Simon said you and your brother were kidnapped”.

“We were… it’s a long story. We need to contact Magnus” She said urgently, Magnus was the only person who might know what was happening to Alec.

“Magnus… he’s here. He is… well was helping look for you and Alec” Jace said and Clary pushed herself to her feet ignoring the pain in her legs as she took shaky steps towards the Ops Centre.

“Magnus! Magnus” Clary shouted, spinning her head in every direction, looking for the flamboyant warlock. He was next to Simon and Izzy on the other side of the Ops Centre.

“Clary! Oh my god! Are you alright?” Simon said, running over to his best friend wrapping her up in his arms. Clary felt herself melting, the stress and pain of the last day slowly dissipating from her body. If it weren’t for the fact, she needed Magnus to save her brother then Clary would have fallen asleep right there right then. Clary honestly felt dead on her feet after everything that has happened in the last day, that she felt like she could sleep for eternity given half the chance.

“I’m fine, Simon. Valentine napped us but we were able to escape and even better, we found our mom. She fine just unconscious at the moment,” Clary explained. 

“Biscuit, I’m glad you’ve escaped and found your mother, but I can’t help noticing that Alexander isn’t with you? Has something happened to him?” Magnus said, clearly worried for her brother.

“In a way. We’re not sure why, but Alec’s lost control of his magic. He says that he’s felt anything like it and that he has somehow gotten more magic than ever” Clary explained, and a concerned look shot through Magnus’ eyes but it vanished just as fast, “After we escape Valentine, Alec portal us to an abandoned warehouse complex on 109th street. Magnus, Alec said… he said he felt like he was going to explode. What does that mean?”.

“Biscuit don’t worry. I’ll save Alexander I promise but if it is what I think it is, then we need to go now” Magnus said and Clary reluctantly nodded, she wanted answers, but her brother was more important so, they darted outside to open a portal to the warehouse.

* * *

Magnus’ heart dropped as he stepped through the portal to find Alexander curled up in a ball on the floor with two beautiful white wings wrapped around him. He looked vulnerable and in immense pain. He could feel it wafting off Alec in wave mixed in with this sudden increase of Alec’s magic.

“Oh, Alexander,” Magnus said, running over to Alec whilst the others stayed back, they weren’t sure what they could really do to help. And it was probably for the best to keep a distance from Alexander because if this were what he thought this was then Magnus only had one shot at saving Alec or else he would die but he didn’t want to tell Clary that, that poor girl had already been through plenty ever since she discovered the shadowworld, to then turn around to tell her that potentially her brother may die… Magnus couldn’t do that to her. She didn’t deserve to lose her brother just after rescuing her mother… no, Magnus would not let Alec die.

“Magnus… it hurts” Alec whimpered, and Magnus’ heart shattered into a million pieces hearing how painful Alec sounded.

“I know Alexander, I’m going to carefully scan you with my magic, I have a suspicion on what’s happening to you, but I just want to check,” Magnus said as he summoned his magic and slowly scanned Alec, looking for a particular marker which would explain everything although he feared finding it.

“Shit!” Magnus muttered as his magic brushed against the marker. It made sense, though. Alec never spoke about his warlock mark which was normal most warlocks kept their warlock mark hidden so, Magnus had kept his mouth shut until Alec came to him about being born with an animal feature and whether that was normal for a warlock but that had never happened, “Alexander, I am so sorry. Dot put a block on your magic. And when it’s realised incorrectly… it can burn the user from inside out. Alexander, I’m going to stay and help stabilise your magic but it’s going to be painful… I’m sorry”.

Alec screamed the feeling that his insides were about to explode had now changed to the feeling of them being stabbed as he felt the foreign yet familiar feeling of Magnus’ magic fight against the raging uncontrollable magic that belongs to him. Then the magic slowly regressed, the pain began to lift and Alec for the first time in the last couple of hours felt like he had some control in his life. He opened his eyes, not realising he had kept them closed since Magnus and Clary arrived. His dark orange eyes burnt into Magnus’ brown ones, silently thanking him before looking over at Clary.

“I’m okay Clary, I’m okay,” Alec said, and that seemed to give Clary just as much motivation to throw herself at her brother, her arms wrapping around Alec’s neck and she apologised repeatedly.

“What happened? I don’t want to seem rude, but no one has ever escaped Valentine before,” Izzy asked, drawing the sibling’s attention from each other.

“He wanted to Mortal Cup, he believed that if he hurt me enough, then Clary would hand it over, although he didn’t expect this magical block-breaking inside me and I honestly don’t really remember what happened next, one moment I was chained up the next I was beside Clary and our mom. This fire started, and I created a portal and brought us here,” Alec explained.

“You’re still hiding something” Jace snapped. He didn’t trust Alec. If Valentine wanted Clary, then he would have just taken her and either Alec would have been left behind or the members of the circle would have killed him whilst he was unconscious, “Valentine had Clary, he didn’t need you as well and I doubt it was just to make Clary complaisant”.

“I don’t see how that’s your business,” Alec said, glaring back at Jace.

“For all, we know Valentine’s controlling you,” Jace said, crossing his arms across his chest as he tried to ignore the horrified look Clary was giving him.

“Sure, between electrocuting and stabbing me, I’m sure Valentine thought maybe, just maybe I’ll put some mind-controlling thing on him, make him loyal. I’m sure when he was calling me an abomination and telling me he was going to take his time killing me, he secretly made plans to control the nearest warlock he knew and put me under some spell. Of course, your right Valentine wanted to control me when he hated me because that bastard experimented on me before I was born. Because that bastard hated my existence because he took my potential normal shadowhunter life away from me and turned me into some hybrid with both angelic and demonic blood…” Alec trailed off, he hadn’t meant to say that much but that cat was out the bag.

“Alexander… I don’t understand” Magnus said, but Alec looked at the ground, scared to see Magnus’s facial expression. He didn’t want to see the horror and disgust on Magnus’ face.

“Our mother always told us that Alec’s biological parents couldn’t look after him because of his magic and asked her to care for him. Alec discovered a couple of days ago from his biological mother that he had been born a shadowhunter however, his bio parents were in the circle and let Valentine experiment on him. It led to him to become half warlock,” this time Clary spoke up, she knew enough about Alec’s situation to explain in on his behalf.

“You honestly expect us to believe that,” Jace scoffed.

“Alexander wouldn’t be the first shadowhunter with warlock magic. A good friend of mine, Tessa. She has both,” Magnus said, turning to face Alec, reaching out and taking his hand in his, “I now understand why you didn’t want to talk earlier, Alexander. Being a Shadowhunter/ Warlock hybrid doesn’t define you, and I would never hate you for something you never controlled,”.

“Thank you, Magnus,” Alec whispered, and Magnus squeezed his hand in reassurance.

“Wait, who’s your shadowhunter parents?” Izzy asked her eyes widened as if she just figured something out.

Alec took in a deep breath and said, “The Lightwoods, I’m your brother Izzy”.


	18. Chapter 18

The institute shook as Izzy slammed opened the door and stormed inside, her fellow shadowhunters jumping out of her path, scared to meet their fate at the hands of an angry Isabelle Lightwood. Izzy didn’t bother knocking on her mother’s office door instead she threw it open and stormed inside, Maryse looked up, raising an eyebrow at her daughter who slammed the office door shut.

“You told me my older brother was dead” Izzy stared as she glared at her mother.

“Alexander has told you,” was all mother said.

“Eventually after Valentine kidnapped him, tortured barely escaping only to lose control of his magic,” Izzy said, “Not that you care because you threw your own child away like they were trash,”.

“Isabelle, you don’t know my reasons for giving your brother up, when you have your own children, you’ll understand, but until that day comes you don’t have the right to question me on my past decisions. I still stand by what I did that day, Alec is in better hands with Jocelyn,” Maryse said as she turned back to her paperwork.

“He’s my brother! My apparent dead brother! What would Dad or Max say if they knew what you did?” Izzy challenged.

“Your father was in on the decision to give Alexander up and Max is too young to understand,” Maryse said, and Izzy felt something inside her snap.

“I see because we didn’t turn out like those perfect law-abiding children you oh so craved. Our opinions don’t matter, we don’t matter. I’m surprised you didn’t throw Max and I to the mundanes when we disappointed you or didn’t you find the chance,” she said opening the door and leaving the office, ignoring her mother’s shouts for her to come back.

* * *

“Where are we going, Alec? You can’t just suddenly demand me to come with you and not tell me where!” Clary whined as she tried to keep up with her brother’s long legs, “And shouldn’t you be resting back at Magnus’ after losing control of your magic”.

“Why do you think we’re walking, I’m trying to limit my magic usage until I’m happy that I’m not going to lose control again,” Alec said, “And if I tell you where we’re going then you won’t come with me,”.

“Alec, I would go to the end of the earth with you,” Clary said, and Alec suddenly stopped moving which nearly made Clary run into the back of him.

“We’re going to Luke’s,” Alec said.

“What! Why! He hates us, Alec, you heard what he said at the precinct,” Clary argued but Alec shook his head.

“I know but we need answers to what happened and until we find a way to wake Mom up, then we have no choice but to go to Luke,” Alec said, Magnus had tried everything he could to wake Jocelyn up, but it was no good. They would have to find the warlock who made the potion first and ask them to reverse it.

“Are you sure we can trust him?” Clary asked, and Alec shook his head. Unless Luke gave them a reason to, then Alec hadn’t planned on trusting Luke.

“We can’t trust Luke, so if it comes to it, I can use my magic to influence Luke to talk with us. Hell, he might believe that we don’t know that we overheard him that day and would willingly give us the information we need,” Alec said, and Clary sighed.

“Okay, you have point just try not to overuse your magic,” Clary said. The rest of the walk to Luke’s was quiet. Neither sibling knew what they could expect when they arrived. The only positive was that Luke’s truck was outside his house when they reached it. Alec knocked on the door and he heard the clattering on noise as Luke stumbled through his house before opening the front door.

“Clary! Alec! Thank god you’re okay, where have you been?” Luke said relieved as he moved out the way and let Clary and Alec into his house, stepping into the lounge after closing the door. Luke sat on the sofa beside Clary whilst Alec sat in the armchair opposite.

“We know about the Shadowworld. Clary knows she’s a shadowhunter and I’m a part warlock, part-shadowhunter. Valentine took our mother and after he captured us ourselves, we escaped and rescue our mother,” Alec explained, they need to be honest with Luke, tell him a little of what they know so it forces him to tell them the rest.

“Thank the angel, I kept tell Jocelyn that she needed to tell you the truth, but she always refused, she didn’t want to include you in the shadowworld. She had plans to tell you after Clary’s 18th but couldn’t after everything that happened,” Luke said, “Where have you been staying?”.

“It doesn’t matter, Luke we need honest answers about our mother, she’s still unconscious,” Clary said.

“Of course, what do you already know?” Luke asked as Alec and Clary shared a look. This was going well so far.

“Luke, we know about the uprising and the part our mother had to play. We know that Valentine is Clary’s father and that he despises Downworlders, and that he… made me the way I am. What I don’t understand is why you and mom kept this from us,” Alec explained.

“Because we were afraid that you would hate us, and it became easier to keep it a secret,” Luke sighed, “But you still don’t know everything. What you need to know will help you find the Mortal Cup,”.

“How?” Clary said, confused, and Alec frowned.

“You’re just gonna have to trust me,” Luke said, and Alec couldn’t help himself but scoff when he heard that.

“Debatable after what we overheard at the police station. You said you hated us, and the only reason you’re sticking around was so you could find the mortal cup,” Alec said. He knows he really shouldn’t be bringing that up, but he couldn’t help himself. Luke had been like a father to them.

“I was lying, Alec, Clary, you mean everything to me but if the circle believed that they could find you by tailing me then you would’ve never been safe,” Luke said, “I promise I’ll explain everything,”.

“Talk” was all Alec could say, he wasn’t sure what to believe.

“But first you need to understand my situation with the shadowworld. Originally I was a shadowhunter, but now I’m a werewolf,” Luke said, and all he received were blank faces.

“We know, Simon told us” Clary shrugged her soldiers, after everything had calmed down and they returned to Magnus’ without Izzy, Magnus had told them the whole truth about the uprising and then Simon told them that Luke was a werewolf, the alpha of the New York pack.

“What? Oh, Simon finally told you he’s a vampire” Luke said sighing, he had hoped he could have been the ones to tell Clary and Alec but then again he shouldn’t be surprised, Simon could barely keep any secrets from his friends, “Well, with that in the open. You know about the uprising?”.

“Yeah” Clary nodded.

“About the Valentine who murdered all those people?” Luke added.

“Yes,” Alec said unsure with where Luke was going with this.

“The reason he became that man was our fault… mine and Jocelyn’s. We betrayed him, Clary… your mother and me. We fell in love. When I was a shadowhunter, Valentine was my parabatai and as time slowly went by Valentine became more violent towards the clave and we tried to help him, but he kept pulling away from us which resulted in us getting close and when he discovered how close Jocelyn and I were, he believed we were having an affair,” Luke started explained.

“Valentine became desperate to win Jocelyn’s heart back, but that led him to compromise his own principles and he started an experiment with Downworlder blood and not just on himself, on the unborn children of circle members. Most of those children died but one… you Alec,” Luke said, so, his mother and Luke knew all this time about his situation and they never thought it would be wise to explain this to him, “Maryse came to Jocelyn begging her to take you with her because she was scared what Valentine or the calve would do if they discovered that you were half-shadowhunter half-downworlder,”.

“Our love drove him to commit these monstrous acts,” Luke added.

“What was he like back then? Before he, you know…” Clary asked. She was curious about how her mother could fall in love with a man like Valentine.

“In the early days of the Circle?” Luke said and Clary nodded, “Oh… he was honourable, idealistic. He was charismatic, he was a leader devoted to protecting us from dying pointless deaths,”.

“And you believed in him?” Alec said.

“If Simon told you he had the cure for cancer, you’d wanna believe him, too,” Luke challenged.

“Well, I’d probably give him the benefit of the doubt at least,” Clary said, smiling.

“Which is what I did. The demons were winning, and we couldn’t train our people fast enough to keep up. Val wanted the Clave to use the Mortal Cup to create more Shadowhunters, but that just made them angry,” Luke explained.

“Isn’t more Shadowhunters a good thing?” Alec said, which in fact was debatable enough because he knew plenty of warlocks who would disagree with that notion.

“Not the way he was proposing. Ever since the Angel Raziel created the first Shadowhunters with the Cup, it’s been forbidden to use the Cup again to rebuild their forces. Jocelyn and I, we tried pulling him back, but he just misconstrued that as…” Luke said before trailing off.

“The affair. It’s not your fault, Luke. There’s no way you two could have pushed him over the edge. He did that to himself… with the blood injections,” Clary continued before letting out a loud sigh.

“And the more injections he took, the deeper it seemed he descended into madness,” Luke continued.

“Then how am I fine if mixing angel and demon blood can turn a shadowhunter mad. I know I have my moments but still… I don’t feel mad,” Alec said. They were both shadowhunters first, so what made Alec’s situation different.

“Because what happened to you was before you were even born, your body adapted whilst Val, his angelic blood fought back against the demonic and he went mad,” Luke said before standing up and walking over to his sideboard pulling out a sketchbook that neither Alec nor Clary had seen before and handed it over to them, “It belongs to your mother, during the days of the circle she loved drawing but after a certain night she locked that part of herself away,”.

Alec and Clary flicked through the sketchbook, it was filled with drawings of flowers, landscapes, a young Valentine and Luke.

“What did my father do?” Clary asked, looking at Luke worried when she reached the last sketch.

“Your mother is the only other person I ever told this to. I never wanted to burden you, either of you,” Luke said, taking a deep breath.

“Tell us,” Alec asked. They needed to know.

“Valentine asked me to back him up on a mission. Some farmers had gone missing. He said it was werewolves. When I entered the barn, Valentine locked the door behind me, and werewolves attacked me. He betrayed our parabatai bond and then he betrayed everything else he believed in,” Luke said as he ran a hand over his face, “During the uprising, I fought with Valentine and when I thought he was about to kill me, Jocelyn saved me, she fought against Valentine, grabbed the cup and ran off with Valentine chasing after her,”.

“For a while, I thought he’d killed her. He wanted us both dead, he killed thousands. Turned Shadowhunter against Shadowhunter. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Luke said.

“God only knows what he’d do if he got the cup” Clary added, and Alec didn’t even want to think any further with that thought.

“The last we saw Valentine was during the fire, but we don’t know whether he’s dead. We need to find the cup regardless if he’s alive or not,” Alec said. If Valentine was still alive, then he might become even more desperate to find the mortal cup.

“But I don’t know where it is. Or even where to look,” Clary said, throwing her arms up in the air.

“It all starts and ends with you and Alec. I know Jocelyn and her children would be the only people she would have trusted with the location of the cup,” Luke said.

“If she trusted us so much, why didn’t she tell us any of this?” Alec retaliated with; the whole evil man was after their family seemed quite important to keep a secret.

“She didn’t think this was gonna happen. She made provisions, just in case it did. The potion, Dot, teaching Alec to use his powers… Jocelyn said that I should tell you everything about our past. That it would unlock you,” Luke said, motioning to Clary on that last part.

“What does that even mean?” Clary said, feeling even more confused than she did coming here.

“I don’t know! But you do. There are clues. They’re inside the mundane world. Think, Clary” Luke said, Jocelyn never explained what she meant about unlocking Clary but had the time come then their past would somehow do that.

“I don’t remember anything. If Mom hid the clues, I don’t know what they are,” Clary sighed.

“You have to figure this out!” Luke said.

“Then tell us about this” Alec said using his magic to summon a small box with the letters JC on it.

“What’s that?” Clary said, confused. She had never seen that box before in her life.

“Mom was always terrible at hiding stuff from me, I don’t know why, but I could always tell what objects she had a significant emotional attachment to. Probably something to do with my magic, so one day I found this under the floorboards in Clary’s room. I asked mom about it and she said it belongs to Clary’s ‘father’ and got me to promise to never show Clary it or look inside. However, I did once and… you’d better see for yourself,’ Alec said handing the box over to Clary, he had never thought that this box would mean anything, hell, he had briefly forgotten about it but just then when Luke was talking about Valentine, it made little sense to what their mother had said. Jocelyn would cry over this box yearly, but why would she cry over something that Valentine owned.

Clary frowned as she opened the box and gasped as she pulled out a baby’s shoe and a lock of hair, “What is this?”.

“No, I want you to remember your father could be a good man,” Luke said, his heart dropped when he saw the contents.

“After what he did to you-” Clary said, putting the shoe and hair back in the box and placed in on top of the sketchbook before looking back at Luke.

“This is worse, Clary,” Luke said shaking his head.

“I don’t care! Luke, I want to know, I… we need to know. You said so yourself. You have to tell me everything,” Clary begged, and Luke sighed.

“JC stands for Jonathan Christopher… your biological brother,” Luke said, and Clary gasped.

“I… I have a brother?” Clary said, yes, she had Alec and no matter whether he was adoptive, he will always be her brother but… to have a biological brother that had been kept away from her.

“You did. He died in a fire at Fairchild Manor, a fire that your father set” Luke said. Alec wanted to hug his sister as she silently weeps for her lost brother, putting her hand on the box which contained his belonging only for it to vanish into the pages of the sketchbook. Alec’s eyes widened as he moved closer to find that the box looked like a drawing. Alec and Clary shared a look, both feeling bewildered with what had happened.

“That’s it. That’s the ending of the story that our mother needed me to hear, but… if that what she meant to unlock,” Clary said pointing at the drawing, “How did I do that?”.

“There are Shadowhunters that have unusual Angelic Powers, but I’ve never seen anyone do what you just did,” Luke said.

“I have. Clary, do you remember when we were seven, you lost your favourite doll that you slept with that drawing of it until Mom got you a new one. What if what just happened now happened back then?” Alec said, and Clary’s eyes widened as she looked back over at Luke.

“Can these powers be inherited?” She asked.

“I think so” Luke replied.

Clary grinned look back at her brother, “I know where mom hid the cup”.


	19. Chapter 19

The mission to retrieve the Mortal Cup from Luke’s drawer at the Police Station had been a success for at least the whole three minutes, Luke was inside the police building before Jace had noticed Luke being carted away in handcuffs in by the feds which left Clary, Alec, Izzy and Jace to get inside the police station, find those tarot cards which according to Clary had the Mortal Cup hidden inside the Ace of Cups which were currently being kept in Luke’s desk drawer.

“We’ll head in glamoured, grab the cards and leave. It’ll be easy,” Jace said, which would work if they knew whether Valentine had any men working inside the precinct and having Jace and Izzy with them would just draw people’s attention to them. And Alec didn’t really want to be in Izzy’s presence any longer because they hadn’t really discussed the whole sibling thing yet.

“Or we could play into Valentine’s hands, listen the people working for the precinct, they know Clary and me. We’ve come here plenty of times, so they won’t blink if we come in trying to grab stuff from Luke’s desk,” Alec suggested.

“But…” Jace started, but Clary interrupted.

“No, Alec’s right, we need to be careful. We’ll get the cards and meet you back here in fifteen minutes,” Clary said, grabbing her brother’s arm as she pulled him away from Izzy and Jace.

“What’s the plan?” Clary asked as they entered the police precinct.

“I’ll distract Vargas if she comes over and you’ll search Luke’s desk for the cards,” Alec replied, “Just play it cool, all we’re doing is getting something from Luke’s desk, nothing suspicious about it,”.

“Alec, Clary, what are you doing here?” Vargas asked when the siblings walked into Luke’s part of the office.

“We need to grab something from Luke’s desk. He borrowed some cards from Mom, who needs them back for the shop. We promised to drop by to pick them up. Luke mentioned that he had them in his bottom drawer,” Alec explained. It was easier to keep their reason close to the truth so, if they were questioned about it later on, then they could accidentally slip up. 

“Um… Where’s all of Luke’s stuff?” Clary asked as she opened the bottom drawer to find just like the rest of the desk was empty except for one photograph with Alec, Clary, their mother, and Luke in it, taken literally before this whole shadowworld business kicked off.

“Internal Affairs took everything,” Vargas said, and Alec shot Clary a worried look.

“Is there any way we can get them? Mom was desperate,” Clary asked, but Vargas shook her head.

“Uh, not till he’s cleared. They took all his stuff to the evidence vault upstairs,” she said.

“Cleared? Of… of what?” Alec asked, concerned. If Vargas couldn’t grab the cards for them, Alec and Clary would have to figure out how to break into the vault themselves. They couldn’t leave the Mortal Cup here any longer, not with the risk Valentine might still pose.

“It doesn’t matter, we’ll sort it. Listen, when this is all over, I’ll grab those cards and call you so you can come to collect them,” Vargas suggested.

“Thank you, we better go tell Mom,” Alec said waving goodbye to Vargas as he left with Clary.

“We need to get into that Vault,” Clary said.

“Yeah, no kidding, right so I have an idea,” Alec said grabbing Clary and pulling her into a deserted corridor.

“Wanna tell me?” Clary asked as Alec place his hands on the walls.

“I’m going to cause a brief power outage. No light, no cameras. We run up the stairs and get the vault, find the cards, then I’ll portal us out of the building,” Alec said, and Clary frowned.

“Why can’t you portal us into the evidence vault?” Clary asked.

“I can only portal us places I’ve already been,” Alec said, his hands glowed blue, “You ready Frazzle,”.

“Bring it,” she said as Alec used his magic to turn off the power in the precinct. Plunging them into darkness, but that didn’t bother Alec nor Clary as their eyes adapted to the darkness. Alec grabbed Clary’s hand and pulled her to the stairs, carefully running up to the floor above, trying not to trip over with every step they took. The floor was deserted as Alec and Clary made their way towards the evidence vault at the end of the room, pushing the door open before quietly closing it behind them.

“You check that side, I’ll do this one” Alec said as the sibling split up using the torches on their phones to look at the labels on the boxes.

“I’ve got them,” Clary said, pulling the cards from the box and showed her brother.

“Brilliant, let's get out of here shall we,” Alec said, opening a portal beside him to outside the precinct. Clary nodded before stepping through.

* * *

That bastard had planned this to destroy his members, leaving him with only twenty people left that just happened to be in the field when that abomination broke free and killed everyone else. Valentine could only be grateful that he was a shadowhunter because the burns he received from the fire his daughter had left him to burn him would have killed him had he been an mundane. Luckily a quick iratze had fixed that up, but the damage had already done. They destroyed his base, Jocelyn had been taken away from him again and he had yet to receive the Mortal Cup.

“Our plans will be brought forward, now get out there and get me what we need now!” Valentine ordered the remaining circle members. Before his plan reached completion, he was going to find Alexander Fray and make him pay for everything he’s done.

* * *

After recovering the Mortal Cup, neither Alec nor Clary knew really what to do with it. Magnus was currently keeping it safe whilst Izzy and Jace demanded that it should be returned to the Clave but what good would that do, if Valentine’s still alive, he’ll be seeking the cup after Alec decimated the circle’s numbers (although the jury was still out on whether Alec had purposefully killed those circle members or whether it had been an accident, Alec himself wasn’t sure where he stood on that debate) so Valentine could replenish his ranks. Valentine had stolen the cup from the Clave before and nothing was stopping him from doing so again, no one could tell who was on Valentine’s side and if any of the higher up Clave officials sided with Valentine, then they could easily slip him the cup and everything they’ve done would have been for nothing.

But that wasn’t their only problem, they still hadn’t found a way to wake their mother up. Clary had been scouring the institute library for anything they could find on sleep potions, but this was more warlock territory and even the warlocks they knew weren’t coming up with anything. They had never seen a potion like this before and according to Magnus the only person who could reverse it would be the person who created it and finding them would be a needle in a haystack. Magnus promised to reach out to all his warlock friends for a lead but that could take months before they get anything back and well, neither Clary nor Alec was that patient, they wanted their mother back and they wanted it now.

“Found anything yet?” Alec asked, looking over at his sister who was hidden behind a stack of books.

“Nope, I’ve been looking at these books for so long that the words have started moving,” Clary said, raising the book she was reading and turned it to face Alec, “Look it’s a rabbit. What are you reading about? That book looks like it's about to fall apart,”.

“I know, I’m having a flashback to my calculus textbook,” Alec said looking at the old book he had found buried in the shelves, just like Clary had said, the binding was slowly falling apart whilst the pages were being held together by nothing, but sheer will and glue, “It’s about the mortal instruments. Listen to this – _‘The great Angel Raziel gifted us with three angelic objects the Mortal Cup, The Mortal Mirror, and the Soul Sword. These objects have led us to push back the demonic threat and protect the mundanes from its wrath. We, the chosen few who gave up our previous mundane life to become shadowhunters, will prove to Angel Raziel that he made the right choice choosing us to take up this mission by obeying to his laws by saving the mundanes and protecting the Mortal instruments’._ I wish I were making this up Clary, could these people be any more suck-ups to this angel,’.

Clary laughed, “You can definitely see why some Shadowhunters believe that they’re better than the downworlders because of the propaganda from the past shoved down their throats. Why are you even looking into the Mortal Instruments, they won’t help wake our mother up?”.

“I’m just covering all our options” Alec replied shrugging his shoulders.

“And by that you mean Valentine,” Clary said, “Do you still believe he’s not dead?”.

“The Clave believed he was dead the last time, and he wasn’t unless we see his dead body, I think it’s best we continue moving forward with the belief that he’s still alive plus… my instincts are telling me he’s still alive,” Alec said, Dot had always told him when he was younger to trust his instincts and now, they were telling him that Valentine wasn’t dead.

“Your instincts are right,” Jace said as he stepped into the library, “Valentine’s been sighted in Manhattan by the local werewolves from your friend Luke’s pack. He’s still alive,”.

Alec sighed as he looked down at the book he had been reading. If this information were right, then Valentine could use the mortal instrument for much worse. Not only to control demons and create shadowhunters but something else entirely. _‘Angel Raziel’ departing words symbolised the last gift he granted to us shadowhunters. If we were ever in a dire situation against the demonic world, then bringing all the mortal instruments together, Angel Raziel will return to our world and grant us a single wish’._ They might have the mortal cup, but if Valentine is in Manhattan, he could be after the Soul Sword. According to this book, the sword has been entrusted to the Silent Brothers in the City of Bones, and that’s where Alec had to go. He closed the book and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Clary asked Alec.

“To stop Valentine,”.


	20. Chapter 20

Breaking into the city of bones hadn’t been difficult. Walking through the front door, letting his magic guide him to the Soul Sword. It’s embarrassing how easy it is navigating through the darkness, avoiding any of the silent brothers who went past. Alec was trying to ignore the mutilated facial features the brothers had. It was another thing he’d add to his never-ending list of things about the Shadowworld he didn’t understand. Honestly, being a part of the Shadowworld for the last few months, everything was confusing. This world wasn’t like the movies or comic books he and Simon had read when they were kids, its proper life. Some mad man believed that downworlders should be eradicated, and they were going to do everything in their power to see it through. Simon and Magnus. They were all at risk of dying if Valentine got his way and obtained the mortal instruments. Hell, Alec didn’t even know where the Mortal Mirror is, another missing Mortal Instrument lost to the Shadowhunters. Although the more time he spent with said shadowhunters, the more he felt glad that the mortal mirror’s location is lost.

All Alec needed to do was get the Soul Sword and hide it with the Mortal Cup until Valentine was no longer a threat. Then and only then could the Shadowhunters reclaim their so-called precious angelic objects. Moving forward, Alec descended into a chamber at the centre is a black and white-veined table, hanging above it, Alec could only assume is the Soul Sword.

‘You should not have come here’ a voice said inside Alec’s head. Alec watched as one of the silent brothers stepped into the chamber, standing behind the centre table.

“You know why I’m here,” Alec said, stepping closer to the soul sword, but his eyes stayed firmly planted on the silent brother.

‘You should not seek to take what does not belong to you,’ the silent brother’s voice echoed inside his head.

“Valentine is after this sword; he will stop at nothing to succeed with his goals. No one dares to stand up to him, so I guess I must,” Alec said, jumping onto the table. His magic is powerless inside the city of bones, ancient runes in place to prevent another warlock from stealing the Soul Sword, “You know how dangerous Valentine is. I plan to destroy him, but we both know if he even gets his hands on one of these Mortal Instruments, then he’ll slowly become unstoppable. Do you really want to risk the lives of silent brothers, shadowhunters and downworlders alike for this sword?”.

“I understand that Valentine is a threat to our entire world,” the silent brother said this time speaking. As he reached up, lowering his hood revealing the face of a normal-looking person, not the mutilated features the other Silent Brothers had. “If you leave with the Soul Sword, then you’ll be breaking the accords. All shadowhunters will come after you, but if you leave without taking it, then I guarantee you’ll be safe,”.

“That’s the problem with Shadowhunters. They believe so much in their own systems that the idea Valentine will steal from them is unheard of,” Alec said as he yanked the Soul Sword down from its place. Cradling it to his chest, his eyes still firmly glued on the silent brother. “I know Valentine will come for this, the Shadowhunters who believe in the old ways won’t defeat Valentine. He will come for the sword. Unless it’s already gone, then he’ll get it,”.

“I hope you’re right because he’s here,” the silent brother said. Alec frowned, he’s distracted by getting the Soul Sword and the Silent Brother that he hadn’t heard the heavy footsteps as a group stormed down the steps and came towards the chamber. The silent brother grabbed his arm, pulling him off the table and towards another entrance, Alec hadn’t previously seen.

‘Follow this tunnel, and it will lead you to another exit. Protect the Soul Sword’ the silent brother said this time, speaking directly into Alec’s head before he pushed him into a secret tunnel. Alec’s hand brushed against the wall, and he ran through the tunnel clutching the sword to his chest, nearly dropping it as he stumbled to through the exit. He couldn’t stay here any longer. A few circle members are guarding the entrance to the city of bones. Alec wouldn’t be surprised if Valentine is somewhere inside. Using his magic, Alec summoned a portal, stumbling through it to a place no one would look for him – the Hotel Dumort.

* * *

Suddenly, being summoned to the New York Institute was not how Magnus envisioned his afternoon. He planned to relax, catch up on his favourite TV shows that he was falling behind. However, the Shadowhunters refused to let him have a peaceful afternoon. Because Magnus received what could only describe as an angry and rushed fire message demanding that he immediately come to the institute. So, instead of spreading out on his sofa, Magnus sat uncomfortably in Maryse Lightwood’s office, waiting for whatever they had dragged him in for to be explained to him.

“Bane, as the high warlock, the actions and responsibilities of Warlocks under your protection, falls to you. We’ve recently discovered that The Circle broke into the City of Bones and attacked the Silent Brothers trying to get the Soul Sword. However, Brother Zachariah told us that a warlock broke into the City of Bones minutes before the circle and stole the Soul Sword. You must understand better than anyone that such action breaks the accords. We must bring in this warlock, find The Soul Sword and return it to its rightful place,” Maryse explained. Magnus frowned, who in their right mind would willingly steal from the Shadowhunters knowing that it will but their kind in a bad position with the Clave… oh. Someone who might not know the repercussions and wasn’t doing it for their own personal gain. As much as Magnus didn’t want to admit it, he fully knew Alexander is behind this.

“I don’t see how I can help you. No warlock would willingly admit to stealing the Soul Sword. And I’m sure that warlock will be long gone by now with Valentine in the city,” Magnus said as he stood up and walked over to the door. He needed to contact Alec pronto.

* * *

The Hotel Dumort is everything Alec imagined it to be. Broken and dirty on the outside with the windows boarded up. Which isn’t reflected on the inside with the grand staircases, large hanging chandeliers and Vampires everywhere. Before liberating the Soul Sword from the City of Bones, Alec sent a message to Clary and Simon asking where they could meet in the next hour. Somewhere Valentine and the shadowhunters wouldn’t find them. Simon agreed that the Hotel Dumort would be ideal. No one would think about looking for them there, considering only a select few people they trusted (Clary trusted) knew about Simon’s vampiric status.

“Alec up here” Simon shouted, his head peering out of one of the many rooms upstairs. Clary was already inside the room, sitting on the bed. Whilst strange black-haired man Alec could only assume is Raphael sat with his one leg crossed over the other glaring at him. “Alec, this is Raphael, my boyfriend, Raphael, this is Alec”.

Raphael nodded his head at Alec but said nothing.

“I’m sorry I rushed out on you earlier, Frazzle, but… I know what Valentine’s planning; he’s didn’t want the Mortal Cup to create Shadowhunters. In the old book I was reading, after the Angel Raziel created the first shadowhunters, he gifted them with three Mortal Instruments. The Mortal Cup, The Mortal Mirror, and the Soul Sword,” Alec said, pulling his bag off his back. Dropping it onto the table before unzipping it, pulling out the sword, he’d hidden inside it.

“You stole to soul sword!” Simon said, jumping to his feet, “The Clave will kill you if they find out you’ve taken it,”.

“I know the risk; I know I’m breaking the accords and they won’t care that I grew up in the mundane world but… Simon. All the mortal instruments used together will bring the Angel Raziel back to Earth where he will grant only one wish,” Alec said, hiding the sword again.

“La mierda, you think he’ll use that wish to get rid of all the downworlders?” Raphael said, glaring at Alec, who nodded his head.

“We have both the cup and the sword as long as we keep them safe, we’ll be fine, but we can’t hide them forever, we need to take down Valentine. Right now, he’s desperate. I killed… most of the Circle, and without the cup, they can’t create more. He’ll be looking for both the cup and sword so we can use them to draw him out,” Alec suggested. He knew they weren’t fighters. Hell, only a couple of months ago, Alec was sitting on his sofa at home struggling to write songs for their band. Now he’s planning to kill the Shadowworld's greatest threat, “I have an idea,”.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really struggled writing this chapter so I do apologise if it is bad.

On his way to the Hotel Dumort. Alec quickly popped into the nearest dollar store to pick up some necessities he required if his plan to bring Valentine out of hiding would succeed. Laying out the mug and plastic sword on the table beside the soul sword.

“Alec, what are you planning?” Clary asked, looking at the items on the table then back up at her brother confused.

“Valentine is desperate, he wants the Mortal Cup and Soul Sword so, that’s how we’re going to lure him out,” Alec explained.

“… And you’re going to throw mugs and plastic swords at him?” Simon said, he looked sceptical of this idea. Alec got them out of trouble many times growing up, but this is the shadowworld, and it won’t be easy taking down Valentine then it was with school bullies.

“No Si, we can’t risk Valentine getting his hands on these. So instead…” Alec started picking up the mug waving one hand over it, blue sparks emanated from Alec’s hand. The mug changed, instead, it looked like Alec was holding the Mortal Cup, “I can glamour both the sword and mug to look like the mortal instruments, which should lure Valentine out,”.

“Oh, and we can ask Magnus to hide the real soul sword with the mortal cup,” Clary said, smiling. Still, Alec shook his head, asking Magnus to hide the mortal cup had been risky enough if Valentine realised that Magnus is important to Alec. That would be like handing the mortal cup over to him on a silver platter.

“It’s too risky. What if Valentine realised our link with Magnus, he might go after him? I have an idea on where to hide them,” Alec said, and Clary nodded her head.

“Where?” Simon asked.

“I can’t say Si if Valentine got hold of either you or Clary then he could torture the location out of you, and I wouldn’t wish that one anyone. To keep you safe, I’m going to be the only person who can know where the cup and the sword are going to be hidden” Alec said, he couldn’t risk his sister or his best friend. From the look, Raphael sent him; he’d grateful on trying to keep Simon safe. He refused to let them experience what he had. However, Alec had yet, dealt with that issue. Instead, pushing it down trying to forget that anything like that had even happened to him. “Now we need to explain everything to Jace, Izzy and Magnus. Clary would you text the shadowhunters to meet us at Magnus’ but clarify that they shouldn’t tell anyone where they’re going. We can’t trust anyone at   
the institute, we don’t know who’s in the circle”.

“You think someone on the inside is working with Valentine?” Clary asked, horrified.

“Clary, we can’t risk our plan falling through. We need to stop Valentine, and if someone is working with Valentine, it will only risk him finding out about the fake instruments. We’ll never stop him,” Alec warned, they had no choice, they could only trust a select number of people.

* * *

Alec quickly messaged Magnus telling him he’s about to portal into his apartment with Clary. Simon decided to stay behind with Raphael since there wasn’t much the vampire could really do to help at the moment. After receiving the okay from Magnus, Alec summoned his magic, opening the portal and stepped through with Clary following behind him, the real and fake mortal instruments hidden safely inside his bag. Magnus sat on his sofa with a cocktail in his hand.

“Ah, Alexander, Clary, what can I do for you?” Magnus said before taking a sip of his drink.

“I need the Mortal Cup, with Valentine in town I can’t risk him figuring out that we’re hiding the cup here,” Alec explained. He didn’t want to give Valentine anymore of a reason to come after Magnus.

“You know I can protect myself from Valentine,” Magnus said.

“I know you can, but I have a plan to bring Valentine out of hiding, and I can’t risk him getting his hands on the mortal cup before we can lure him out. Please, I know where we can hide them for now,” Alec explained, and Magnus sighed. Standing up, walking into another room before quickly returning with the mortal cup in hand.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Magnus asked. Alec didn’t really know what he was doing, taking on a madman with his magic and a bow and arrows. He had little knowledge of the shadowworld, but that couldn’t stop him. To protect those he cared for, he needs to follow his instincts and bring Valentine down.

“Me too,” Alec said, flashing a small smile at Magnus as he took the mortal cup before hiding it in his bag alongside the soul sword.

“Jace and Izzy are here,” Clary said looking up from her phone before walking over to the front door, opening it letting both Jace and Izzy inside.

“Clary mentioned you had this plan to bring Valentine down, what is it?” Jace asked, sitting down on the sofa beside Izzy whilst Alec, Magnus and Clary sat opposite them.

“There is a warehouse district close to the Hotel Dumort. If we can lure Valentine to that warehouse, then it will keep him away from the mundanes. Suppose we glamour a mag and plastic sword to look like the mortal instruments. In that case, Valentine might fall for the bait and come after us,” Alec explained the basics of his idea.

“That’s dangerous, you could get yourself killed,” Magnus said, and Alec shrugged his shoulders.

“Someone has to try. The rest of the shadowworld are hiding away from Valentine, hoping he’ll just disappear. He took my mother like hell is I going to let that bastard stay alive any longer”. Alec’s hands were shaking; he would not let that monster get away with hurting any more downworlders, he’ll bring the end of this once and for all.

“Oh. Hodge had a breakthrough on potentially someone who may have made the potion for Jocelyn” Jace said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Tapping on the screen before sliding it across the table to Clary with a picture of a red-skinned Warlock with horns.

“Ragnor Fell?” Magnus said, taking the phone.

“You know him?” Alec asked, looking at Magnus, who nodded.

“Ragnor is one of my oldest friends, he’s very prickly, likes to keep to himself,” Magnus explained.

“Hodge believes either Ragnor Fell or Tessa Grey are the only ones who may have made the potion for Jocelyn. We just need to figure out who had access to her,” Jace explained.

“By the early ‘90s, Ragnor was a professor at the Shadowhunter Academy in Idris” Magnus explained, handing Jace his phone back.

“Idris? Didn’t Luke say mom lived there? Does that mean he could have made her the potion?” Clary said, looking at Alec, who nodded. He remembered Luke saying how their mother had lived in Idris most of her life until she ran away from Valentine.

“The little bugger! That’s why he hasn’t responded to my fire message. Ever since Valentine began hunting warlocks, Ragnor’s been holed up in his private countryside house outside London.   
For all I know, Ragnor suspected by fire message was a ploy by Valentine to lure him out of hiding,” Magnus said.

“Then you must find him,” Alec said. As much as he wanted to go find this Ragnor person, he still had both the Mortal instruments with him. He needed to hide them soon.

“You not coming with us?” Clary asked, but Alec shook his head.

“I have something else I need to do first” he replied. Clary frowned before her eyes widen as she realised what Alec meant. Her eyes trailing over to where they’d hidden the mortal instruments inside Alec’s bag.

“Be careful?” Clary said, wrapping her arms around her brother in a tight hug.

“You too” Alec replied.

* * *

Maryse Lightwood was the last person he wanted to see, but Alec had no choice. Valentine would search everywhere for the Soul Sword and Mortal Cup, except with at the institute. It's a risk if there is a spy inside the institute. They might see Alec had the Mortal instruments over then they can alert Valentine of their location. Still, it's a risk he's willing to take. The Mortal Instruments will be safe in the hands of the New York Institute. Alec walked into the institute, heading straight towards Maryse's office. When the door was shut, and a silencing spell placed on the office. Alec explained everything from finding the Mortal Cup to stealing the Soul Sword and what Valentine is planning on doing with it if he got his hands on them.

"Why bring them here? If you went through all this trouble to find and steal the mortal instruments. Why bring them back?" Maryse questioned, looking down at her desk where the two instruments lay.

"Because this the last place anyone would think to look. No one besides a select number of people knows about my relation to you, they'd have no reason to assume I would bring them directly to you. I don't trust the Clave, and I don't trust you, not after what you did to me, but I need to keep these safe. If Valentine gets his hands on these instruments, then he'll use your sacred wish and destroy all downworlders, I can't let that happen. Promise me until Valentine is dead, you'll keep these safe then you can return them to wherever they belong," Alec explained.

Maryse looked at her son, the boy she gave away. He'd become everything she wished her child could be and more. If Alec wished for her to hide these mortal instruments. Until Valentine is dead then for once in her life, she'd do the right thing for her son, "Okay, I promise to keep them safe, all I ask in return Alec is that you keep yourself safe".

* * *

“Valentine, we’ve received a message from our spy inside the institute,” one circle member said, walking over to their leader. Who was quietly seething to himself in the corner after losing the Soul Sword.

“What is it?” Valentine snapped, glaring at the shadow hunter.

“A Silent Brother told the Clave how a warlock broke in seconds be we did and took the sword,” the circle member passed on the message. A ferocious growl ripped up Valentine’s throat.

“That abomination, no other warlock would dare go after the soul sword, he must have figured out our plan. Find him, find Alexander Fray, and bring him to me. I’m going to make that bastard regret being born,” Valentine ordered. His plans may be on hold for now, but that didn’t matter. He was going to kill Alexander Fray if it was the last thing he did.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a long chapter but I hope you like it nevertheless.

Alec felt terrible. Clary and Magnus had finally returned from Ragnor’s with the Book of the White which, according to Magnus, had the reverse spell to wake their mother up, but it came at a cost. Ragnor has been attacked and killed whilst Alec had been worrying about protecting the Mortal Instrument. He should’ve been there. To help save Ragnor, Magnus’ friend. Magnus’ once clean apartment was now filled to the brim with old relics and furniture he’d brought back from Ragnor’s.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve come with you,” Alec said in a quiet voice. He felt helpless, watching from the inside out as the man he deeply cared for mourning the loss of his friend. And it hurt Alec in ways he’d had considered until now. In less than 80 years, this will be him after losing Clary or his mother. He’s a warlock, an immortal being which would live until someone came along and killed him. Whilst he wants to spend as much of his eternal life with Magnus. The fact that one day he’ll be all alone waiting for the inevitable to come that is if he survives this war against Valentine. In less than 24 hours he’d be taking to the streets of New York trying to lure Valentine to him. It’ll all come down to who is stronger, who will walk away from that fight alive. If he dies tomorrow, then at least he knows he did it, fighting for what he believes in.

“It’s not your fault, Alexander. We should have expected Valentine would send something our way.” Magnus said, putting the photo album he’d been flicking through down on the small table beside him.

“Can’t help it?” Alec said, slumping onto the sofa, sliding down into his seat as he looked up at the ceiling, “Feels like I could’ve helped had I been there”.

“Alexander, no matter how powerful we warlocks are. We can’t be in a million places at once. What you were doing equally important, had Valentine got the Mortal Instruments then we will lose everything, you had to prioritise hiding them. You made the right decision,” Magnus said. It didn’t stop Alec from feeling guilty; actually, it’s slowly making him worse. Here Magnus is after losing a dear friend; he’s focusing on Alec.

“I feel like I’ve made a lot of bad choices over these last few weeks. I should’ve let you know about taking the Soul Sword before breaking into the City of Bones. You being the High Warlock had that right yet, I still went behind your back, and the Clave could’ve held you responsible. I’ve probably put all warlocks in a dangerous position with the Calve for acting out as that” Alec said before letting out a loud sigh.

“Actually, Alexander, that’s not true. You’ve been so busy trying to find Valentine that you haven’t heard what the Warlock community has been saying about you.” Magnus said. Alec felt his heart sink into his stomach, feeling suddenly overcome with worry. He’d never wanted to get on the wrong side of the Warlocks yet, that’s what he’s done. They must hate him for everything he’s done, which may affect the treatment of Warlocks in the future, “To the warlocks, you’re the only person who’s gone out of their way to fight for them. Not the shadowhunters who are obligated to by the accords and their duty to protect the downworld. But a lonely warlock who’d until a few months ago did not know about the shadowworld, how only stumbled across this world because Valentine attacked your family. We’ve never had someone who went out of their way to protect us. Alexander, no matter what happens from this point forward, you have the full backing of every warlock in Brooklyn.”

“W-what!” he felt shell-shocked. Never in a million years would Alec have guessed that the warlocks would side with him. He’d always assumed that it’s every person for themselves.

“Oh Alexander, you really underestimate your own worth,” Magnus said, standing up before sitting down beside him, “You are the light this world needs, you’re brave and strong. You put other people first before yourself. When the circle attacked here, you made sure that all the warlocks were protected and then fought for them when you could’ve protected yourself as well. You never even stopped to think of that possibility. Alexander, many people, cherish you and no one more than me.”

“Alexander, you are worth fighting for,” Magnus mumbled, cupping Alec’s cheek, guiding his face closer. Magnus capturing Alec’s lips with his own, in their first passionate kiss.


	23. Chapter 23

Alec decided night-time would be the best time to strike. Most mundanes would safely be at home. While Alec wanted to draw Valentine back to the warehouse, he’s prepared for everything to go to hell and they must fight on the streets against the circle. Night-time gave the illusion that Alec had been hiding and only braved the streets with the Mortal Instruments on his back when no one is around to see him. Clary’s with him. She refused to leave him alone, especially if he gets attacked wandering the streets. Valentine might hide around any corner, ready to fight.

“Someone’s following us” Clary whispered. She held the fake mortal cup in her hands whilst Alec had the fake Soul Sword attached to his back. Had they been the real mortal instruments then, it would have been incredibly reckless to cart them around in plain view of everyone. Alec can only hope that Valentine is becoming desperate and won’t realise he’s marching into a trap until it’s too late.

“Let them. The more people who see us, the quicker the message will get back to Valentine,” Alec said, turning into an alleyway which leads to the shortcut to the warehouse complex they’re hiding out in. Alec would glance back every so often to make sure the person is still following them; they were. Okay, once they returned to the warehouse, Alec and the others have less than an hour to prepare themselves until Valentine arrived with his shadowhunters.

* * *

Twenty shadowhunters were not enough Circle Members left to bring down that abomination. Not even a hundred people would do, but Valentine didn’t have the luxury of choice. He’s desperate. He needs the mortal cup and soul sword to bring the Angel Raziel back to earth and rid this world of the downworlders plaguing their streets, who claimed their lives whilst they lived long, and luxurious ones of their own.

“Valentine, we’ve seen a sighting of Alexander Fray, he’s in a warehouse complex in New York. The only person who’s with him is Clary Fray” one of the remaining circle members said. Handing over a picture they’d taken of Alec and Clary walking into the warehouse with the mortal instruments in their hands. Valentine knew this is probably a trap, but he didn’t have any choice. Alexander must keep the mortal instruments on him, not trusting anyone to look after them. So, if Valentine will get his hands on the mortal cup and the soul sword, he needs to go to that warehouse. It’s probably teaming with downworlders loyal to the abomination waiting for Valentine to stumble inside and kill him. It’s a trap. Every instinct inside his body screamed it, but he knew, no matter whether he waits a day or a week, Alexander won’t leave that warehouse. If he wanted to kill Alexander and get the mortal instruments, he has no choice but to fall into the trap.

“Summon the remaining circle members, tell them to grab their weapons, we leave in an hour” Valentine ordered. The circle member nodded running out of the room whilst Valentine walked over to his weapons rack. He looked at all his seraph blades pulling two off and attaching one to his belt. At long last, he’ll finally get his revenge on Alexander Fray.

* * *

Alec waited in the shadows, watching the warehouse door, his bow aimed. An hour had nearly passed since the circle member followed him and Clary to the warehouse, he’s sure Valentine will be here any second now. The silence is deafening; every slight noise outside the warehouse echoed, putting Alec more on edge than he already is. He looks over to Clary, she’s hiding near the doorway with Jace, whilst Izzy stood on the catwalk on the second floor looking down, her whip ready. Alec wasn’t sure where Simon, Magnus and Raphael were hidden, but he could only guess wherever Simon is, Raphael wasn’t that far from him. He’s glad his best friend has someone yet. Alec’s never seen Simon in an actual fight which wasn’t bullies attacking Simon in the corridors at school whenever they felt like bullying him. And Alec didn’t want to worry about Magnus the warlock knew how to protect himself. Still, Alec is now officially dating him after kissing the other day. It doesn’t calm his nerves knowing that they’re about to go into a fight with the shadowworld’s number one enemy and threat.

Alec’s drawn out of his thoughts as the warehouse door flew open. He angled his bow at the small opening, waiting for someone to walk through. If he’s lucky, it’ll be Valentine, and this fight can end as quickly as it started, but Alec knew that wouldn’t be the case. He’s never that lucky. He watched as the circle member poured in, but there was still no sign of Valentine, it’s like in a video game where you must deal with the minions first before you could fight the boss. Alec aimed his bow at the nearest circle member and fired before grabbing another arrow from his quiver. Making quick work attaching it to his bow, shifting his body slightly to aim the arrow at another circle member, letting go of the string. The arrow flew, landing in the chest of his intended target, killing them instantly.

Alec saw Izzy takedown circle member after circle member as he grabbed another arrow as if they were nothing. He sometimes forgets how Izzy is his sister and how she’s capable of fighting. Seeing her like this puts what Alec’s missed into perspective. He never trained with Izzy growing up. She knows and experiences more of this world than Alec ever will. She’s filled will the strength and bravery of a shadowhunter whilst Alec’s filled with snacks mostly and pop culture references. He really needed to talk to her when this is over. Alec needs to determine whether Izzy wants to acknowledge they’re related or whether it’s best to leave it and forget about what could have happened and instead embrace what happened. Alec grew up as a mundane. He’ll never truly fit into the shadowworld. It’s like he’s standing on a barrier between two worlds unsure which one he belongs to.

“Alexander Fray!” Valentine shouted as he walked into the warehouse, “Kill everyone, but leave the abomination for me.”

Alec grinned as his eyes travelled around the warehouse. Apparently, Valentine is so focused on Alec; he hadn’t noticed that only five circle members remained. Izzy quickly killed another whilst Raphael and Simon worked together to take down two. Magnus rained continuous magic taking down a third and Jace helped Clary fight the remaining two. This means Alec could focus purely on killing Valentine.

“Yeah, you and whose army…. shit” Alec tried to reach out as he knocked the bag containing the instruments from their hiding position. Still, his arm wasn’t long enough, and they tumbled into Valentine’s grasp. Valentine tore into the bag, pulling the mortal cup and the soul sword out before dropping the bag onto the floor. Alec smirked, with Valentine’s shined with glee as he held the two mortal instruments in his hands looking them over before looking over at Alec. The latter had now jumped from the second floor to the ground as if he tried to get the bag before Valentine did.

“They’re fake,” Valentine said, looking down at the pieces of the mortal cup in his hand. Alec grinned as he dropped the glamour, revealing the broken white mug and plastic toy sword he’d used in place of the mortal cup and soul sword.

“Yep! Do you want to know where the real mortal instruments are? With the Clave where they belong. You never even considered I would hand them over. However, the thing is Valentine, I may not get along with my biological mother, but she still owns me for what she did. Maryse will keep the instruments hidden until she gets the word of your demise” Alec said. A smile on his face as he watched Valentine’s face morph from a look of surprise to one of anger.

Valentine dropped the fake instruments drawing his seraph blade and charged at Alec, “I will kill you; I will make you suffer for everything you’ve done”.

Alec dodged Valentine, scoping down to pick up a dead circle member’s seraph blade. In a close fight his bow won’t help, he needed a weapon for close-quarters fighting. Valentine growled as he slowly stalked over to Alec. Raising his seraph blade, he brought it down in one flew swoop, only for it to be blocked by Alec. Valentine growled again, but this time Alec didn’t wait for Valentine to attack. Instead, he summoned his magic, sending an intense wave of heat into Valentine’s arm, forcing him to drop his seraph blade.

“You really won’t. Didn’t anyone tell you to watch your surrounding?” Alec grinned, kicking Valentine back before he could reclaim the seraph blade. Alec pushed him right into Clary’s seraph blade, watching as it pierces through his chest right through Valentine’s heart, killing him. Alec smiled at his sister as she dropped the sword still lodged in Valentine’s chest and stumbled into Jace’s awaiting arms. Alec collapsed to the floor, staring up at the warehouse’s ceiling; they’d done it, he’s done it. They’ve killed Valentine, and they’ve all survived; they hadn’t lost anyone. All energy and adrenaline seemingly left Alec’s body at once, leaving him a panting mess on the floor. His arms and legs felt like jelly he didn’t feel like sitting up, let alone moving for the rest of the day.

“YOU HAVE DONE WELL ALEXANDER FAIRCHILD,” an unfamiliar voice said. Alec frowned as he pushed himself up onto his arms even though his body is screaming from fatigue. Still, he pushed past that so he could look over at the voice, his eyes widened as he stared at the large golden wings stretched out from the figure’s body, he had long silver and gold hair. His eyes were pure gold with no signs of any pupils or whites of the eyes with ordinary people have, just by looking at the figure Alec knew who it is. The gasps from Jace and Izzy confirmed his suspicions. This figure is the Angel Raziel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise, I struggle with writing action scenes; I tried my best.


	24. Chapter 24

Alec stared at the angel in front of him. No one said anything; no one could think of anything to say; they are all stunned. They’ve never heard of an angel returning to the human world since the creation of the shadowhunters. Yet, years later, after a fight between the circle and a rouge group of shadowhunters and downworlders, the Angel Raziel finally appears. His glowing gold eyes look at each of them, studying their faces before turning back to Alec, who still sat firmly on the floor.

“STAND BEFORE ME ALEXANDER FAIRCHILD,” the angel said, and Alec felt compelled to follow the order, forcing himself to stand on his shaky legs. He felt Magnus appear beside him, wrapping his arm around Alec’s waist, holding him up should Alec’s legs fail on him.

“YOU HAD SUCCESSFULLY DEALT WITH THE NUISANCE VALENTINE MORGENSTERN BEFORE HE GAINED ALL THREE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS, I GIFTED THE SHADOWHUNTERS THE POWER OF THE INSTRUMENTS WITH THE INTENTION TO SUPPORT THE SHADOWHUNTERS IN THEIR BATTLE AGAINST THE DEMONS NOT THE DOWNWORLDERS WHO CAME TO EXIST. I FORBID ANY SHADOWHUNTER TO USE THE MORTAL CUP TO REPLENISH THEIR NUMBERS, MORGENSTERN’S ATTEMPT TO CLAIM THE MORTAL CUP WITH THE INTENTION TO USE IT IS UNFORGIVABLE. THEREFORE, YOUR COMBINED STRENGTH TO VANQUISH THE ENEMY. I HAVE RETURNED TO THIS MORTAL PLAIN TO BESTOW THE BLESSING OF RAZIEL MARK ON ALL PARTICIPANTS IN THIS FIGHT WITH FURTHER GIFTS FOR THREE OF YOU,” the angel said lifting his hand. His gold eyes glowed brighter, and Alec felt a light sting on the bad of his left hand, he looked down at it to see a golden symbol burnt into the back of his hand. It’s the angelic rune, Alec remembered seeing it in the Grey Book Magnus hid in his apartment, yet in the centre of the angelic mark was a golden eye. Alec could only assume this meant to reflect the gold eyes of Raziel himself.

“If you knew Valentine was a threat, why didn’t you interfere?” Alec asked, had the angel stepped in earlier, they could’ve dealt with Valentine sooner.

“I DO NOT INTERFERE WITH MORTAL AFFAIRS,” the angel said. Alec couldn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes. He’s heard that line countless times in movies, TV shows, books, and games where one person couldn’t be bothered to help, which leads to numerous horrible this happening to the protagonist. Apparently, it happened in actual life too.

“I HAVE THREE GIFTS TO PASS DOWN. RAPHAEL SANTIAGO, STEP FORWARD” Raziel said. Alec looked over to Raphael, who stood quietly beside Simon and Izzy, watching what was happening. He looked over at Simon, sharing a confused look with his boyfriend before walking over to Raziel. Raziel lifted his arm, his eyes glowing brighter as some gold light shot into Raphael’s body. Raphael fell backwards, his eyes closed, only barely being caught by Simon’s arms before his body hit the floor. Simon knelt on the floor, clutching Raphael close. 

“What did you do to him?” Simon asked, fear clear in his voice. It’s not like he can check Raphael’s pulse had he died because he doesn’t have one.

“FEAR NOT, HIS GIFT FOR HIS PART IN DEFEATING VALENTINE WAS RECEIVING THE ABILITY TO WALK IN THE SUN. JUST LIKE YOU DAYLIGHTER, RAPHAEL SANTIAGO HAD ASCENDED AND JOINED THE RANKS OF THE DAYLIGHTERS” the angel said. Alec stared down at Raphael; he’d become a daylighter, he’d joined Simon in being a daylighter. Alec smiled at Simon, trying to give him a reassuring look to calm his nerves, but until Raphael woke up. They could prove he was, in fact, a daylighter; he doubts anything could fully relieve Simon of his worries.

“ALEXANDER AND CLARISSA FAIRCHILD, STEP FORWARD,” the angel said. Alec pulled himself out of Magnus’ arms. The strength in his legs slowly returning to him as he and his sister stood in front of the angel. Worried what gift the angel would give them, “IF NOT FOR YOUR ACTIONS, VALENTINE MAY HAVE SUCCEED IN HIS PLAN. YOU HAVE PROVEN YOU ARE MORE LOYAL TO THE SHADOWWORLD THEN THOSE WHO HAVE LIVED IN IT FOR THEIR WHOLE LIFE. THEREFORE, I DECLARE TO THE GOOD OF THIS MORTAL WORLD THAT YOU CLARISSA, AND ALEXANDER FAIRCHILD SHALL BECOME CONSUL OF THE SHADOWHUNTER AND DOWNWORLDERS ALLIANCE. CLARISSA, YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE SHADOWHUNTERS AND MUNDANE WILL BE VALUABLE TO PROTECTING THIS WORLD. ALEXANDER, YOUR FEARLESS ATTITUDE AND CARE FOR THE DOWNWORLDERS WILL BRING FORWARD AN AGE WHICH WILL UNITE ONCE ENEMIES AGAINST THE DEMONS.”

Alec gulped, Raziel wanted him to take control of the downworld, to work with his sister to unite the two sides of the shadowworld. Is that even possible putting aside years of injustice and repression on the downworlders to make them accept the shadowhunters and vice versa? Could they do it the Frays siblings against the Shadowworld? Would the shadowworld even acknowledge them, for all they know he and Clary could make it up? “That’s all and well, but the shadowhunters and downworlders will not accept some newbies to control their world?”

“THEY WILL ACCEPT IT WHEN THEY SEE THAT MARK,” the angel said. The glow around the angel’s body getting brighter and brighter that before long Alec must shield his eyes and when he opens them again. The angel is gone.

* * *

Just as Angel Raziel left, the shadowhunters arrived, all stunned to see their angel who they treated like a god disappear before their eyes. They demanded answers, answers which some didn’t want to accept, but it’s hard to say no when the mark of Raziel glowed golden on their shoulders. The news had probably reached Alicante, but for now, that didn’t matter. Magnus, Alec, Jace, Izzy and Clary had returned to the New York Institute, leaving the shadowhunters to clear up the bodies of Valentine and his circle members. They had something important to do now the threat to the shadowworld has now been eliminated. It’s time to wake their mother up.

Alec stood with bated breath as he watched Magnus snap his fingers and activate his magic. He has the Book of the White in one hand whilst his blue magic spreads out, encompassing his mother’s floating form. Words Alec can’t understand fly out of Magnus’ mouth, that it takes his breath away. It’s enchanting watching Magnus speak another language that for a brief second. It draws his attention away from his mother until Clary’s hand drew him back. He looked down at his sister; she seems worried like she’s expecting everything to go wrong, but it can’t. Their mother is in the capable hands of Magnus. He’ll wake her up. Alec squeezed his sister’s hand in reassurance. As he looked back to Jocelyn, the glowing green cocoon surrounding his mother starts to flicker, and Luke (who refused to leave their mother after rescuing) quickly caught her. Alec’s heart soared as he watched his mother’s eyes opened.

“I got you,” Luke said, smiling down at Jocelyn.

“Luke,” Jocelyn said, smiling as she wrapped her arms around Luke’s neck, pulling him into a tight hug. Luke gently settled her down onto her feet, holding onto her for a second longer, making sure she’s steady before letting go. Jocelyn’s eyes trailed around her surrounding slowly taking it in before turning to look behind her, her eyes catching sight of Clary and Alec.

“Mom!” they both said, wrapping their arms around her tightly, Alec buried his head in his mother’s neck, breathing in her scent.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Clary said, tightening her grip on her mother. She couldn’t believe it. Finally, after months of being apart, their mother has been reunited with them. Jocelyn pulled away, resting a hand on both Clary’s and Alec’s cheeks, stroking their faces with her thumb.

“Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about your past. You deserved to know” Jocelyn apologised.

“Not, not now. I have had enough for one day. We can talk about all that later. Right now, I just… I need my mom” Clary said, hugging their mother again whilst Alec turned to look at Magnus who beside Jace and Izzy had been watching them quietly.

“Thank you,” Alec said, and Magnus smiled, stepping over to stand beside Alec, taking Alec’s hand in his and entangled their fingers together.

“You’re welcome, Alexander.”

* * *

Simon couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he watched Raphael seemingly glow in the sunlight. He acted like a little kid on Christmas morning, running downstairs to find presents under the tree. It has been 70 years since Raphael last felt the sun on his face. 70 years since he mistakenly entered the lair of Camile Belcourt and was unwillingly forced into a life he never wanted. From what Raphael had told him, he went inside because of a dare and yet, a stupid dare cost him his humanity. Still, Simon can’t help feeling grateful. Had Raphael never turned into a vampire, Simon wouldn’t have met him. His relationship is something he’ll never want to lose. He loves Raphael.

“What are you thinking?” Simon asked, entangling his fingers with Raphael’s.

“H-how amazing this is mi amor. I walk in the sunlight something; I haven’t been able to do in years with the person I love. I can now see why you never stayed at the Hotel once you found out you’re a daylighter. To be gifted, this is the best gift in the world,” Raphael said, squeezing Simon’s hand before dropping it. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Simon’s waist, pulling his boyfriend flush against his chest.

“I love you Simon Lewis” Raphael whispered leaning forward, pressing their lips together. Simon’s arms wrapped around Raphael’s neck before pulling away, resting his forehead against Raphael’s.

“I love you too, Raphael Santiago, forever and always.”

* * *

Clary's a little nervous, she's barely been in the shadowworld for three or four months now, and the Angel had requested she and Alec take over everything. She didn't know a thing about this place. Yet, with the Angel Raziel's appearance, that news already making its way back to Idris. Apparently, Maryse Lightwood overheard Raziel parting gift to Alec and herself. The current Consul demanded to meet with Alec and Clary to get the entire story. She has yet to hear what the downworlders thought, considering after waking their mother up. Neither Alec nor Clary had left the institute. She isn't exactly looking forward to the inevitable backlash; they're going to get from both the Clave and the downworld. Suppose she and Alec are going to unite the two sides of the shadowworld. In that case, they're going to need help from those who know about the shadowworld, which is why she's currently standing outside Jace's room with her hand partly raised considering whether she should knock on the door. Clary let out a deep sigh before bringing her hand down hard in a knock.

"Come in," Jace said, and Clary pushed the door open, stepping inside before shutting the door behind her. Jace's sat on his bed reading a book he closed when he saw her, "Hey, everything alright?".

"Yeah fine, Mom with Luke, he's catching her up with everything that's happened. Could I talk to you for a bit?" Clary asked, stepping over to the bed's side but didn't sit until Jace moved his leg freeing up the room.

"Sure, what's up?" he asked.

"The Clave wants Alec and I to go to Idris soon to talk about Raziel gift, and the thing is neither Alec nor I really know much about the shadowworld. The mundane one, yes, if you want to know the best shop which has the best deals for clothes, art supplies and movies, then I'm your girl. Still, shadowworld business isn't really my area of expertise. I'm hoping you wouldn't mind being Co-Consul or something like that with me, to help me whenever I get stuck. You know the shadowhunters, I know the mundanes, and Alec knows… well, I'm not sure, but I'm sure it will be useful. Of course, if you don't want to, I completely understand. This is sort of out of the blue, and I know I can ask Izzy or my mom, I thought I'd ask you first before going to someone else," Clary blurted out, she's nervous. Whenever she's scared, she babbles that most people don't understand what's she's saying.

"Slow down. Clary, I'm more than happy to help you with this" Jace smiled taking her hand in his and giving it a quick squeeze.

"Really?" Clary said, relieved.

"Of course, I promised you I'd look out and be there for you, that promise still stands," Jace said, and Clary threw her arms around his neck hugging him.

"Thank you!".

* * *

Alec’s not surprised when Izzy seeks him out; he’s currently hiding in Clary’s bedroom. He doesn’t really want to be around the other shadowhunters, since they keep pestering him about meeting Angel Raziel. They keep staring at his hand which shows the ever so golden Blessing of Raziel mark which, according to his biological mother, hadn’t been seen since Jonathan Shadowhunter. Alec didn’t enjoy being the centre of attention at the best of times. Now, he feels like all eyes are on him because he held defeat Valentine. He now carries the Blessing of Raziel; he feels like a museum piece put on display with everyone trying to get a good look at him. He is the shadowworld’s version of the Mona Lisa, and Alec doesn’t like that one bit; hence, he’s hiding.

“I’d wondered where you disappeared to, are you hiding from everyone?” Izzy asked, pushing the door open.

“I don’t like being the centre of attention, which is ironic because I’m in a band. Anyway, enough about me. Is there anything you needed?” Alec asked.

“Yes, I wanted to talk to you about the sibling thing. We haven’t really had a chance since I found out you are my not so dead brother. It must be hard not only discovering the shadowworld but finding out the whole experiment thing,” Izzy said, sitting down beside Alec.

“At this point, I’m taking each day as it comes. I don’t blame our mother anymore, I’m hurt that she did that to me, but I don’t blame here. Had she not given me to Jocelyn, then I think my life would have been harder than dealing with homophobic bullies and math at high school. I would have hidden my magic from everyone; I doubt I would be out the closet and who knows whether I would’ve gotten along with Clary or met Magnus. I wouldn’t change a thing about my life; I love Clary and Mom, being a mundane for nearly twenty years isn’t that bad; it gives you a unique perspective on life. And it would help if you considered what Maryse went through, giving up her child, hoping he’d have a better life only to meet him years later and he doesn’t even know about you. She did her best for the circumstances she had,” Alec said shrugging, he’s through of what his life could’ve been comparing it to what he’s been through, and he wouldn’t change a thing. He’s happy with his life.

“I always knew I had an older brother; Dad would tell stories of Alexander Lightwood to send me to sleep at night. Dad told me you’d died when you were one, but they never said how sometimes I’d dream you were still alive. It became my escape whenever life got hard. When my parents became stricter with me, I escaped into this world where my big brother was still looking after me, playing with me. Sometimes I’d prayed to the angel that my parents had been wrong, and you’re still alive. I was never expecting my wish to come true. Yet, here you are my older brother,” Izzy said, Alec looked at her, had he lived with the Lightwood, he would’ve been the oldest child, he would’ve faced the hardship Isabelle did.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you” Alec whispered, reaching over taking Izzy’s hand in his. If he changed his life even a little, he’d bring Izzy with him. They could grow up in the mundane world together with Clary, Simon, Luke, and Jocelyn.

“It’s not your fault.” Izzy said, “Anyway, we have plenty of time to make up for. You still haven’t met Max, our younger brother.”

“We have another sibling?” Alec frowned, no one had mentioned another brother. Still, then again during the memory demon incident, the memory taken from Izzy had been of a younger boy, probably Max.

“Yeah, he’s eleven, short, brown-haired and cute. We’ll need to introduce you to him, he’s the troublemaker of the family, you’ll love him,” Izzy said grinning. Alec couldn’t help but smile alongside her. Maybe everything will be alright, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one chapter remaining which (all going well) will be posted this Sunday!


	25. Epilogue

~4 years later~

The last four years had been filled with never-ending challenges, mostly from the Clave. Whilst they couldn’t deny Clary, Alec, Magnus, Izzy, Raphael, and Simon all bared the blessing of Raziel. No one wanted two inexperienced shadowhunter or downworlder running the shadowworld. The Clave didn’t want to lose the power it holds over the downworlders. However, going again the blessing and denying what fifty-plus shadowhunters had seen and heard the Angel Raziel gift is considered blasphemous to the shadowhunters working in the institutes worldwide. Surprisingly, it’s the downworlders who were more accepting of Alec and Clary. Alec protected the downworlders from Valentine. He risked his life to ensure that Valentine never succeeded with his plan to wipe out the downworld. The downworlders trust Clary and Alec. They trust those who took part in the fight, so; the downworlders supported and came to Alec whenever they had any significant issues; they couldn’t sort out themselves.

With the downworld behind them, Clary could take over the Clave and brought them into a new age, kicking and screaming. It took three long years to get here, to reach a world where the shadowhunters started to trust the downworlders, a world where downworlders felt safe to rely on the shadowhunters. We scrapped the accords. In the accords place, an agreement between the shadowhunters and the downworlders replaced it – it describes what all kinds in the shadowworld want their world to look like by working in partnership.

Of course, that didn’t entirely end their problems as the Clave’s previous heads tried their best to claw back control by forcing their children to seduce Clary, which didn’t work by a long shot. During this long four years had fallen in love with Jace who returned her feelings, no one could come between them. In the first year after Valentine’s demise, Alec spent most of it travelling with Magnus worldwide, dismantling and destroying Valentine’s hideouts, making sure the Circle will never rise again whilst Clary temporarily moved to Idris with Jace and their mom. Jace discovered he isn’t a Wayland but a Herondale, Jace after two years of dating proposed to Clary. They got married only last year after everything had settled. Clary could invite her downworlder friends and family to Idris. And only three months ago, Magnus and Alec tied the knot. It had mostly been to please his mother. Alec and Magnus were both immortal and had the rest of their lives to spend together. Still, Jocelyn and Clary wanted to see Alec get married before they passed away, which is something Alec didn’t want to think about for a long time.

All this lead up to the present day. To ensure the alliance between the shadowhunters and downworlders stayed strong. Alec and Clary met up twice a month in official meetings to discuss any issues or changes to their respective kinds. Today is one of those days. They have converted the warehouse where Valentine took his last breath, and the Angel Raziel appeared into a fancy meeting area where downworlders and shadowhunters came whenever they needed to discuss something with Alec or Clary (after making an appointment)

“Good morning, Mr Alexander Bane-Fairchild,” Clary said, walking into the warehouse.

“Hello Mrs Fairchild-Herondale” Alec laughed, standing up and wrapping his arms around his sister, “Hey little sis, how’s Idris?”.

“Same old, they’re demanding for Jace and me to have children, I told them to shove it,” Clary said, sitting down in the chair beside her brother, taking his hand in hers, “Mom sends her love.”

“Give her mine; I’ll come to Idris next week to see her. I heard Luke permanently moved to Idris now to be with her” Alec said; he’d met Maia who’s the new alpha a couple of days ago. She seemed nice, if not a little stressed about taking over the pack.

“Yeah, I’m surprised it took this long” Clary smiled. Luke didn’t like being separated from Jocelyn after moving to Idris to be with Clary. He’s continually visiting Idris whenever he’s allowed. Still, it isn’t until recently had downworlders been permitted to live in Idris permanently. Luke spent the last four years preparing another werewolf to take over the New York Pack. When the opportunity came to live with Jocelyn, he wouldn’t be abandoning his pack with no alpha, “How’s the downworlders?”.

“Had a scuffle between the werewolves and vampires, but that’s nothing new. The Seelie queen wants me to come to her realm, but I’ve refused. I won’t meet with downworlders outside of this room unless we’re friends,” Alec explained, he’s heard rumours about the Seelie Queen. He’s trying to delay meeting her.

“Wise choice,” Clary laughed, “How’s Magnus?”.

“He’s fine. What about Jace?” Alec asked.

“He’s good; we’re actually going on a mundane date after this. He wants to learn more about my mundane life. Actually, I better go, he’s waiting outside. God forbid what he could get up to being left alone,” Clary said, standing up, turning to face Alec. Wrapping her arms around his neck in a quick hug which Alec returned before kissing his cheek and pulling away. 

“See you later, Frazzle!”.

* * *

“I’m home” Alec shouted into the apartment as he portaled inside. Magnus is sitting on the sofa, his phone pressed up against his ear, and he looked irritated. Alec dropped his bag onto the table, flopping down beside Magnus, and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“For the last time Raphael, Simon won’t say no. You’ll never lose that one; if he can put up with your grumpy personality, then he can do anything. Alexander’s home… Raphael, everything will be fine… okay bye.” Magnus said before ending the call and dumping his phone on the coffee table, “Raphael’s worried Simon will say no when he proposes tonight. I’ve never seen him so nervous before.”

“Simon won’t say no, he’s been waiting for Raphael to propose since Jace and Clary got engaged” Alec laughed. For the last two years, Simon has been dropping not-so-subtle hints to Raphael about getting married, and now Raphael had finally decided to propose. Had Simon been adamant he wanted Raphael to propose to him, Alec won’t be surprised if Simon would’ve proposed years ago.

“Thirsty?” Alec asked, already expecting the answer as he stood up   
and walked over to Magnus’ drinks section.

“You read my mind,” Magnus said, accepting the drink from Alec before taking a large sip of it. He then raised his glass in Alec’s direction, “To us”.

“To us,” Alec said, clinking the glasses together. Still, instead of taking a sip of his drink, he sat down beside Magnus, leaning forward and pressed their lips together.

“I love you” Alec whispered.

“I love you too,” Magnus said before pressing their lips together once more. Alec sighed into the kiss. This will never get old. And he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of eternity with the man in front of him.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! Thank you for everyone who has read my story! I really hope you've enjoyed it!


End file.
